Gyromitra montana
Karstenia 13: 56. 1973.
Common Name: snow mushroom
Misapplied names: Gyromitra gigas (Krombh.) Cooke; Helvella gigas Krombholz; Gyromitra korfii (Raitv.) Harmaja
Cap 5-10 cm broad, 4.0-7.0 cm tall, fertile surface convoluted, folded, rarely lobed; margin irregular, incurved, closely pressed or fused to the stipe; surface yellowish-brown, hazel-brown, to dull reddish-brown in age; sterile undersurface whitish; context thin, 1.0-2.0 mm thick, brittle; odor and taste not distinctive.
Stipe short, stout, 2.0-8.0 cm tall, 3.0-7.0 cm thick; surface whitish, grooved to folded, the latter manifested in cross-section by longitudinal passages.
Spores 25.0-35.0 x 12.0-16.0 µm, elliptical, smooth, some with thickened ends (apiculi), possessing a single, large central oil droplet.
Solitary, scattered, to gregarious in soil, humus, occasionally with rotting wood, under conifers, near melting snowbanks; found at higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada and presumably also Coast Range; fruiting during the spring.
Edible and very good, but see comments under Gyromitra esculenta
Gyromitra montana, commonly known as 'snow mushroom', is identified by its short, stocky stature and convoluted cap with a margin that tends to remain pressed against the stipe. Gyromitra esculenta and Gyromitra infula are similar, but more erect species. The former has a lobed, wrinkled cap at maturity, while the latter has a lobed, wavy cap. Though easily recognized, at least in California, Gyromitra montana is part of a confusing species complex. See Weber (1988) for a discussion of the taxonomic difficulties. An example is the closely related and almost indistinguishable, Gyromitra gigas, separated by slight microscopic differences. In Gyromitra gigas, the size of the ornamentation on the spore ends (apiculi) is said by some authors to be 1-2 microns larger, than that of G. montana. If these differences are not significant, then Gyromitra montana would be a synonym of G. gigas. A molecular study is needed to help clarify this situation.
A recent paper (Miller et al., 2020) presented molecular evidence tha G. montana and G. gigas are separate species. G. gigas is not known to occur in North America.
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Miller, A.N., Yoon, A., Gulden, G., Stensholt, Ø., Van Vooren, N., Ohenoja, E. & Methven, A.S. (2020). Studies in Gyromitra I: the Gyromitra gigas species complex. Mycological Progress 19(12): 1459-1473.
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