MORELS, CUP-FUNGI, HELVELLAS, ETC. 



219 



Morchella crassipes (Vent.) Pers. Edible This species differs from 

 the two preceding in the fact that the stem is nearly equal 

 in width with the cap. Figure 218 illustrates a handsome speci- 

 men which was 17 cm. high. The granular surface and the folds 

 of the stem show very distinctly and beautifully. Collected at 

 Ithaca. 



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., \_l^erpa 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. 



