Of the various elf saddles that populate our forests, this one is the most frequent. Its abundance and constancy of characters is always surprising. Much more frequent that the Black Elf Saddle (H. lacunosa), one may encounter Helvella crispa from early summer until late fall. Usually it fruits in a solitary fashion, one or two fruitbodies, but on occasion it may occur in large numbers. Generally even then the groups are spread out through the woods rather than occurring together in a large assembly. In our area this is usually a species of the Spruce-Fir and mixed conifer forest. It is much less frequent in Ponderosa Pine and I have never found it in Pinyon-Juniper woodland.
    The cap never assumes a true saddle shaped appearance—there is a great variation in the overall shape. The color is generally white or slightly cream color and the underside of the cap is often warm buff. The stipe is truly lacunose and often slightly thickened below. It is an odd fact that when one finds H. crispa, one may also locate one or more other Helvellas accompanying it such as H. lacunosa, H. elastica, H. queletii, or H. compressa.
    People in this area do not seem to have a tradition of eating elf saddles as they sometimes do in the Pacific Northwest. Given the assemblage of toxins in this general grouping of mushrooms, its probably a good thing.