Part 61

Illustrations: G. esculenta--F 6^{d}; Hvass 327; LH 39.

~Helvella crispa~ Fries

Common white helvella

Cap: width 18-28 mm. Stem: width 8-12 mm; length 40-65 mm.

Description:

Fruit-body: consisting of a saddle-shaped cap on a short stem.

Cap: convoluted towards the centre, two lobed, wavy at the margin, white or cream-coloured.

Stem: cylindric and hollow, white or cream-coloured and unevenly and deeply longitudinally furrowed.

Flesh: thin and pale.

Spores: very long, broadly ellipsoid, with a large central oil drop and 18-20 × 10-13 µm in size; eight contained in an elongate cylindrical ascus.

Habitat & Distribution: Frequent in damp woods with deciduous trees, from early summer until autumn.

General Information: Plate 68.

~Helvella lacunosa~ Fries, ‘Slate grey Helvella’ is similar in stature but differs in being ash-grey or dark grey.

~Leptopodia elastica~ (St Amans) Boudier is better placed in the genus Helvella. It differs in having a slender, smooth, cylindric stem and irregularly 2-3 lobed, yellow or tan-coloured cap.

~Cyathipodia macropus~ (Fries) Dennis is sometimes placed in Helvella. It differs in having a grey cup-shaped cap on a long, slender stem. The spore-bearing tissue in the last species is the inner surface of the cup whilst in Helvella and Leptopodia it is on the outer surface of the saddle-like cap.

~Mitrula paludosa~ Fries, the ‘Bog beacon’, is a similar fungus growing in spring to early autumn on old leaves and detritus in swamps. It is widespread and has a bright orange head on a white stem--as the common name might suggest. It grows to a height of about 20 mm.

Illustrations: H. crispa--F 6^{e}; Hvass 331; LH 41. H. lacunosa--F 6^{b}; Hvass 330; LH 39; NB 153⁴. L. elastica--Hvass 332; LH 39. C. macropus--F 6^{a}; LH 39.

~Rhizina undulata~

Pine fire fungus

Fruit-body: width 20-60 mm, or several coalescing.

Description: Plate 69.

Fruit-body: chestnut-brown to rust colour with a distinct white or cream margin, fleshy, smooth, concave and thrown up into irregular humps.

Stem: lacking, but undersurface pale, ochraceous, and bearing numerous cylindrical branched, whitish root-like structures, 1-2 mm thick.

Flesh: reddish brown, tough and fibrous.

Spores: very, very long, spindle-shaped with two or more internal droplets, with hyaline extensions at each end, and 22-40 × 8-11 µm in size; eight contained in an elongate cylindrical ascus.

Habitat & Distribution: Infrequent in pine woods but common at the sites of bonfires in pine woodlands.

~Daldinia concentrica~ (Fries) Cesati & de Notaris

Cramp-balls