White saddleHelvella crispa
Elfin saddle · Gachupín · Orejita blanca
Helvella crispa is a cream-colored mushroom with a lobed cap that grows in mixed conifer and oak forests. In Mexico, people call it gachupín and eat it with precautions.[4][6][11]
Edible with caution. Eat it only well cooked and with a sure ID. Never eat a wild mushroom identified only from photos.
- Season in Mexico
- HabitatConifer and oak forests
- FamilyHelvellaceae
How do you identify White saddle?
- Cap
- White, cream or pale yellow, saddle-shaped or irregularly lobed; 1.5–4 cm wide.[3]
- Cap underside
- The underside of the cap has fine hairs.[4]
- Stem
- White, 3–12 cm long and 0.5–3.5 cm wide, with deep ribs, cross-veins and pockets.[3]
- Cap margin
- The cap margin remains free from the stem.[4]
- Flesh
- Thin, brittle and whitish.[3]
- Odor
- Not distinctive.[3]
Can you eat White saddle?
Edible with precautions. Eat it only after expert identification and thorough cooking. It is not edible raw: eaten raw, it has been reported to cause gastrointestinal symptoms. Cooking does not remove all mushroom toxins.[6][10][11]
Where and when does White saddle grow?
It grows in mixed conifer and oak forests.[4]
A Mexican description gives June through November as its fruiting season. The genus review includes a December collection from Jalisco; documented months depend on the locality.[4][5]
This partial list includes states with specimens examined in the Mexican review. Worldwide, it occurs in Europe and has morphology-based records from central Asia and North America.[3][4]
Names in Mexico
About the name
In Mexico, the name Helvella lacunosa covers a species complex; UNAM places H. lacunosa in the strict sense outside the Americas.[8]
