Helvella atra

Taxonomy

Class: Pezizomycetes

Order: Pezizales

Family: Helvellaceae

Helvella atra is one of several 'saddle fungi' that appear in forest, particularly beside footpaths. These rather uncommon saddles are dull, burnt-looking and contorted like dried up leaves and so they are very easily overlooked. (Picture: Rob Petley-Jones)

Like their close relatives the morels, saddle fungi may well have the capacity for forming mycorrhizal relationships with woodland trees, but it is also fairly clear that they can live as saprobes, feeding on dead woody debris. This particular species, which in Britain usually occurs either singly and in small groups, is a gregarious and very common fungus in some parts of central Europe.

Helvella atra seems to favour sandy alkaline soil rather than acidic soil or heavy clay, and although most often found in forests it is certainly not confined to woodland.

All Helvella fungi - of which at least 26 species have been recorded in Britain - should be considered inedible; they are closely related to the potentially lethal false Morel, Gyromitra esculenta.

Identification guide

	Description Up to 100 mm tall with a contorted cap up 1.5 to 4cm in diameter, and usually with two upward-projecting lobes; the exterior (fertile asci-bearing) surface is dark grey-brown or black, while the inner (infertile) surface is somewhat lighter in colour. The stem is dark grey-brown, slightly lighter and thickening somewhat towards the base, 5 to 10mm in diameter and not deeply furrowed.
Dimensions	This species is very variable in size. The cap is typically 3 to 8cm across and 1 to 4cm tall; the stem is 2 to 4cm in diameter and 4 to 8cm long.
Spore print	White.
Odour/taste	Faint pleasant odour; no distinctive taste.
Habitat	In mixed woodland, usually on sandy alkaline soil; occasionally in scrubby grassland.
Season	Summer and autumn.
Occurrence	Infrequent.
Similar species	Helvella lacunosa also has a grey-brown or black cap but it is readily differentiated from Helvella atra by its deeply grooved stem.