Helvella leucomelaena (Pers.) Nannf.
white-footed elfin cup
Helvellaceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
white-footed elfin cup
Helvellaceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
Species Information
Summary:
Also listed in Cups category. Features include a dark brown to gray-brown upper surface, finely downy underside, white stem with well separated blunt ribs that do not extend beyond the lower quarter of the underside, fruiting from spring to early summer, and microscopic characters including relatively large spores and aporhynchous asci.
Microscopic:
spores 18-24.2 x 10.9-15 microns, broadly elliptic to elliptic, smooth, colorless, one droplet; asci 225-330 x 14.6-20 microns, aporhynchous; paraphyses 4.9-9 microns wide at tip, end cell 144-145 microns long, clavate, enlarged gradually to abruptly at tip, "pale brown to brown, contents finely granular", (Abbott), spores 18-23 x 10-14 microns, broadly elliptic, smooth, colorless, with one droplet, sometimes with additional small droplets in the ends; asci 8-spored, 250-300 x 13-16 microns, not turning blue in iodine; paraphyses cylindric, thickened toward tips to 8 microns, septate towards base, (Breitenbach), spores 20-23(25) x 10.5-14 microns, (Weber)
Notes:
Collections were examined from BC, WA, OR, ID, and also AB, NF, ON, PQ, AK, WY, Argentina, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, Italy, Australia, reported from north Africa, Middle East, and Asia, (Abbott). It is quite common in the Rocky Mountains in late spring - collections were examined from OR, ID, CA, CO, UT, WY, (Weber). It also occurs in Switzerland (Breitenbach).
Habitat and Range
SIMILAR SPECIES
Helvella crassitunicata has a different color, stronger pubescence of the underside and stem, and more pronounced ribbing of stem and underside, (Abbott). H. crassitunicata usually fruits in late summer and fall and differs microscopically, (Arora). H. crassitunicata fruits in the fall, has larger spores, and has peculiarly thickened paraphyses that almost resemble setae, (Weber). Helvella solitaria has pleurorhynchous asci and smaller spores, (Abbott). H. solitaria has a more distinct stem, usually develops above the ground, and differs microscopically, (Arora). Helvella acetabulum has "usually larger and paler tan cups with more pronounced ribs extending upward to near the cup margin" (Trudell).Habitat
single, gregarious, subcespitose [somewhat tufted], or scattered and numerous on bare soil, moss, or litter in coniferous woods, April to September, (Abbott), gregarious in forests and meadows, commonly on pathsides and roadsides, in stony, sandy, humus-poor places, April to June, (Breitenbach), scattered to densely gregarious or clustered, occasionally single, on ground, usually near or under pine or other conifers, favoring bare, grassy or hard-packed soil along roads and paths; in spring and early summer, or in California in winter and early spring, (Arora)
Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Clavaria cinerea Fr.
Hydnum udum Fr.
Odontia uda (Fr.) Bres.
Ramaria cinerea Gray