Gyromitra infula elfin saddle

this is my contribution to FungiFriday by ewkaw

Gyromitra infula elfin saddle or hooded false morel is a curious one to encounter. it is not often i find them but when i do it is inevitably in a conifer forest during autumn

i must say i am not fond of common names beginning with the word false. there is nothing false about this unconventional species. it is not pretending to be anything it is not

it's just that it somewhat resembles some morels which are sought after morsels. so some injudicious humans decided it was important to focus on the fact that these are not those.

that being said the name elfin saddle is also only vaguely appropriate. though they may seem rather elfin in form, nothing but the color remotely resembles a saddle i would consider riding in.

here in Norway we call them bispelue which means mitre or miter, as in the headdress of bishops. that at least is indicated by the name Gyromitra infula. i suppose if you are intoxicated enough with other shrooms you might agree the name is fitting

anyway what i really wanted to get at is their offbeat accidental appearance. now i will be the first to proclaim nature as the true master artist

yet not every work of even the greatest master is automatically a masterpiece. maybe this one was a training object or an unfinished prototype that escaped further attention.

in all life, bodily form and function go hand in hand and are products of each other. this is one of the secrets behind the amazing beauty of nature everywhere. however, regarding the design of this particular fungus, it is obvious that the engineer has had more to say than the architect.