A brown, cup- to ear-shaped spring ascomycete of conifer forests, often found on rotting wood or near melting snowbanks. Its fertile surface is wrinkled to furrowed, and its outside is whitish. It is a lorchel, related to the false morels in Gyromitra, and several similar Discina species can be separated only by spore features under the microscope.
Edibility disputed; not recommended. Some authors list it as edible after cooking and others do not, and it must never be eaten raw. Its main danger is confusion with false morels (Gyromitra), which contain gyromitrin, a toxin that can cause severe poisoning and death. A 2025 phylogenomic study detected gyromitrin only in Gyromitra and Piscidiscina among the lorchels it examined, but data for Discina are limited. Full safety details in notes.
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Habitat
Saprobic; single, in groups or in small clusters on needle-covered soil, humus or rotting conifer wood in montane conifer forests, often near melting snowbanks; spring to early summer (May to July).
Distribution
Temperate North America, especially the western mountains (common in the Sierra Nevada), and Europe. Several cryptic species have been found under this name in Europe, and it is unclear whether North American material is the same species.
Characteristics
Fruit body: 1.5-10 cm across, shallowly cup-shaped at first, then flattened or sunken in the center with a wavy, downturned margin; fertile inner surface yellowish to reddish brown or dark brown, wrinkled to deeply furrowed; outer surface whitish, minutely hairy, drying pinkish brown. Stem: absent or short and stout, up to about 1 cm long, whitish to brownish. Flesh: white, brittle, up to 3 mm thick; odor not distinctive. Spore print: whitish. Spores: about 25-35 x 11-16 um, spindle-shaped to ellipsoid with short pointed (apiculate) ends, with one large central oil drop and smaller ones near the ends (Mykoweb; Wikipedia).
