Helvella queletii

What You Should Know

Helvella queletii is a species of fungi in the family Helvellaceae of the order Pezizales. The fruit bodies consist of light to dark grayish brown, cup-shaped inner fertile surface, and a paler exterior covered with fibrils. Their margins are distinctly inrolled, especially when young or dry. The fruit bodies are supported by whitish cream, longitudinally furrowed, hollow stalks. It is growing under hardwoods or conifers and is widely distributed in North America.

Helvella solitaria is a synonym and may be the more appropriate name for the species since solitaria predates queletii.

Helvella queletii Mushroom Identification

1. Ecology

   Probably mycorrhizal; growing alone or gregariously under hardwoods or conifers; spring and summer in eastern North America and the Rocky Mountains - but appearing in fall, winter, and spring on the West Coast; widely distributed.

2. Cap

   1.5-6 cm; when young often folded inward along a central axis; cup-like or saucer-like at maturity (sometimes irregular); upper surface grayish brown to brown, smooth or slightly wrinkled, bald; undersurface pale grayish brown to whitish (sometimes darker near the margin), densely but finely fuzzy.

3. Flesh

   Thin; brittle.

4. Stem

   To 11 cm long and 4 cm thick; flaring to the apex and/or base; usually deeply ribbed with round-edged ribs that terminate at the apex of the stem and do not continue far onto the undersurface of the cap; whitish or very pale brown.

5. Chemical Reactions

   KOH negative on all surfaces.

6. Microscopic Features

   Spores 17-22 x 11-14 µ; elliptical; smooth; with one central oil droplet. Paraphyses filiform with rounded apices that become clavate with maturity; 7-8 µ wide at apex. Excipular surface elements hyaline to brown; often arranged in bundles; frequently septate; terminal cells clavate.

Sources:

Photo 1 - Author: alan_rockefeller (Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International)

Photo 2 - Author: alan_rockefeller (Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International)