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Helvella lacunosa
Helvella lacunosa, also known as the slate grey saddle or fluted black elfin saddle, is an ascomycete fungus of the Helvellaceae family. It is probably the most common Helvella species.[1] The mushroom is readily identified by its irregularly shaped grey cap, fluted stem, and fuzzy undersurfaces.
It is found in western North America and in Europe, near deciduous and coniferous trees in summer and autumn.
I know I have posted this before, I just wanted to get a good series showing close-up of the stem along with a cross section to show the "chambers"
Spotted on Nov 30, 2011
Submitted on Dec 1, 2011
1 Comment
I have these (or a closely related species) in my front yard, just inside the north city limits of Seattle. They have shown up two winters running now, first appearing in December 2019, and they vanished with the big snowfall about a month later. They again appeared in December 2020; they're still there in early January 2021. They are under a relatively young conifer tree, but they are also on top of the roots of a boxwood hedge that died out (and the above-ground parts removed) about a decade ago.