Pseudorhizina californica (W. Phillips) Harmaja
Karstenia 13: 56. 1976.

Common Name: none

Synonyms: Gyromitra californica (W. Phillips) Raitv.; Helvella californica W. Phillips

• Pileus

  Cap lobed to saddle-shaped, relatively broad, 5.0-12.0 (16) cm when full expanded; margin incurved to occasionally decurved, free from the stipe; surface consisting of shallow bumps and depressions, more or less glabrous, grey-brown, medium-brown, to olive-brown; sterile undersurface cream-colored, minutely tomentose; context thin, < 1 mm, cream-colored; odor and taste not determined.

• Stipe

  Stipe 4.0-8.0 cm long, 2.0-4.0 cm thick, more or less equal, deeply fluted, the ribs forming the underpinnings of the cap; surface cream to pale-yellow, tomentose, often with a waxy aspect, flushed pinkish towards the base.

• Spores

  Spores 13.0-18.0 x 8.0-10.5 µmmicrons, ellipsoid, smooth, thin-walled, some with small polar guttules or granules of varying size; spore deposit not seen.

• Habitat

  Solitary or in small groups in conifer woods; fruiting in humus or on rotting wood in moist areas, e.g. seeps, edges of creeks and marshes etc.; low to mid elevations of the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges; fruiting from late spring to early summer; uncommon.

• Edibility

  Toxic according to some accounts.

• Comments

  With a broad, olive-brown to grey-brown cap and pinkish, ribbed stipe, Pseudorhizina californica is one of prettiest and distinctive false morels. It occurs commonly in the Pacific Northwest, but sparsely in California. This false morel was historically placed in Helvella, and more recently in Gyromitra. Harmaja (1976), transferred it to Pseudorhizina citing a number of morphological and chemical differences, the most obvious being a ribbed cap with a tomentose undersurface, pinkish stipe, and smaller spores with oil drops that are variable in size and number. Recent DNA evidence supports Harmaja's transfer. Pseudorhizina sphaerospora of Eastern North America is very similar, differing as the species suggests, by globose spores.

• References

  Abbott, S.O. & Currah, R.S. (1997). The Helvellaceae: Systematic revision and occurrence in northern and northwestern North America. Mycotaxon 62: 1-125.
  Smith, A.H. (1949). Mushrooms in their Natural Habitats. Sawyer's Inc: Portland, OR. 626 p.
  Tylutki, E.E. (1979). Mushrooms of Idaho and the Pacific Northwest: Discomycetes. University of Idaho Press: Moscow, ID. 133 p.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Michael Wood: Pseudorhizina californica (CP)
  • Handbook to Additional Fungal Species of Special Concern in the Northwest Forest Plan: Gyromitra californica (D & CP)
  • Orr & Orr: Gyromitra california (CP)
  • Forest Mycology and Mycorrhiza Research Team: Gyromitra californica (CP)
  • MushroomExpert.com: Gyromitra sphaerospora/california (D & CP)
  • Mushroom Observer: Pseudorhizina californica (CP)
  • Arora (1986): p. 804 (D & P) [as Gyromitra californica]
  • Arora (1991): p. 237 (D & CP) [as Gyromitra californica]
  • Miller: sp. 392 (D & CP) [as Gyromitra californica]
  • Orr & Orr: p. 32 (D), pl. 4 (CP) [as Gyromitra californica]
  • Smith & Weber: sp. 20 (D & CP) [as Gyromitra californica]
  • Tylutki (1979): p. 69 (D & P) [as Gyromitra californica]
  
  

  (D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)