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Helvella leporina      Ear-Shaped Otidea

 This image represents Helvella leporina according toe Harri Harmaja of the Finnish Miseum of Natural History and an authority on this group.  I hade previously labelled it as Otidea auricula.   The fruitbodies look like boat-shaped cups that have been stood on end.  The rich red-brown interior is distinctive.  I have found it only a few times in moss covered ground under conifers.  Otidea onotica is similar but is paler and flesh-coloured with  pinkish or orange tinges.  The macroscopic characteristics between Helvella and Otidea have been blurred by redent reasessments of these genera.