Morchella deliciosa Fr. Edible, has the cap cylindrical or nearly so. It is longer than the stem, and is usually two or three times as long as it is broad. The plant is smaller than the preceding, though large ones may equal in size small ones of those two. The plant is from 4–8 cm. high.
Morchella semilibera DC., and M. bispora Sor., [Verpa bohemica (Kromb.) Schroet.] occur in this country, and are interesting from the fact that the cap is bell-shaped, the lower margin being free from the stem. In the latter species there are only two spores in an ascus.
HELVELLA L.
The helvellas are pretty and attractive plants. They are smaller than the morels, usually. They have a cap and stem, the cap being very irregular in shape, often somewhat lobed or saddle-shaped. It is smooth, or nearly so, at least it is not marked by the large pits present in the cap of the morel, and this is one of the principal distinguishing features of the helvellas as compared with the morels. In one species the thin cap has its lower margin free from the stem. This is Helvella crispa Fr., and it has a white or whitish cap, and a deeply furrowed stem. It occurs in woods during the summer and autumn, and is known as the white helvella.
Figure 219.—Helvella lacunosa (natural size). Copyright.
Another species which has a wide range is the Helvella lacunosa, so called because of the deep longitudinal grooves in the stem. The cap is thin, but differs from the H. crispa in that the lower margin is connected with the stem. This species is illustrated in Fig. [219] from plants collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., during September, 1899.
The genus Gyromitra is very closely related to Helvella, and is only distinguished by the fact that the cap is marked by prominent folds and convolutions, resembling somewhat the convolutions of the brain. Its name means convoluted cap. The Gyromitra esculenta Fr., is from 5–10 cm. high, and the cap from 5–7 cm. broad. While this species has long been reported as an edible one, and has been employed in many instances as food with no evil results, there are known cases where it has acted as a poison. In many cases where poisoning has resulted the plants were quite old and probably in the incipient stages of decay. However, it is claimed that a poisonous principle, called helvellic acid, has been isolated by a certain chemist, which acts as a violent poison. This principle is very soluble in hot water, and when care is used to drain off first water in which they have been cooked, squeezing the water well from the plants, they are pronounced harmless. The safer way would be to avoid such suspicious species.