Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Helvella elastica

A supermacro of a little Saddle fungus, found when a few of us spent the day botanizing Rod Handfield's acreage, south west of the city. What a wonderful forest to explore! (VERY approximate location marked on my map). Got home about half an hour ago after a long day east of the city, in the amazing Alberta Badlands area. Six of us climbed down into Horseshoe Canyon to do another botanizing day of the hillsides and canyon floor. This area is about an hour and forty-five minutes' drive from the city. A really pleasant day, warming up later on. I prefer the cooler temperatures, though, especially when walking/hiking. The smoke haze from BC wasn't really noticeable down in the canyon, but on the drive from and back to the city, visibility was greatly reduced. Thanks so much, Stephen, for driving today - I appreciate it so much. And now, as usual, I feel dead beat and oh, so tired, LOL. I had to set my alarm for 4:40 a.m. and I got back home at 6:15 p.m..

We found these Common Elfin Saddle fungi growing amongst the moss and forest litter on the Fullerton Loop Trail, Kananaskis, last August. I think these fungi have such a neat name. "The Common Elfin Saddle (Helvella elastica) has a smooth whitish stalk and a greyish to smoky brown cap. It is not as irregularly lobed as two other species (Helvella lacunosa and Helvella crispa) and often looks more "saddle-shaped". From Wikipedia.