Elfin saddleHelvella lacunosa

No. According to modern sources it's an inedible mushroom. Toxins that cause gastroenteritis have been found in closely related species, plus the gyromitrin compounds typical of Helvella. Old field guides listed it as conditionally edible — don't trust them.

Not worth it. Even after boiling, the risk of an upset stomach remains, and the culinary value is zero — thin, waxy, tasteless flesh. This is a mushroom to admire, not to put on your plate.

In deciduous and coniferous forests, especially on burned ground, trampled patches and the edges of forest roads — wherever the soil is bare. Strangely enough, these “damaged” places attract it most of all. On fresh, recently burned soil it can form whole clusters.

Throughout the forest and forest-steppe zones. Finds are recorded in the Carpathians, Polissia, the Forest-Steppe, and in old parks on the outskirts of cities. In the steppe it's rarer, only in plantations. It turns up especially often in years with forest fires.

September–October, possibly into the first half of November in warm years. It's a distinctly autumn species that loves cool temperatures of 8-15°C and the moisture after the first autumn rains.

On burned patches the soil chemistry changes — pH, minerals, microflora. A number of fungi (Pholiota carbonaria, Peziza praetervisa, Helvella lacunosa) have evolved to make use of this niche. They're collectively called “carbophilous fungi.”

With Helvella crispa — it has the same saddle-shaped cap and ribbed stem, BUT it's white. Color is the main, unmistakable difference: lacunosa is always dark gray or black, never white. It can also be confused with Helvella ephippium (gray too, but without pronounced lacunae).

No. Crispa turns yellowish with age, but never darkens to a graphite shade. Lacunosa is already dark gray the moment it breaks through the soil. If you've found a whole group of identical gray saddles, it's lacunosa; if there are both pale and dark ones, it's most likely two different species growing side by side.