It is commonly called the brain mushroom (how Madame Goody refers to it I do not know) and its cap is convoluted like the lobes of the organ for which it is named.

It is known by a variety of common descriptive names such as "brain mushroom," "turban fungus," elephant ears, or "beefsteak mushroom/morel," although beefsteak mushroom can also refer to the much less toxic Fistulina hepatica.

Yet others would be poisoned after eating Gyromitra esculenta for many years without ill-effects.

When collecting this fungus, care must be taken to distinguish it from the poisonous false morels, including Gyromitra esculenta.

'Gyromitra esculenta' has a cap that is generally darker and larger than the true morels ('Morchella' sp.).

Symptoms include gastrointestinal upset and lack of muscular coordination, similar to the effects reported by some individuals after consuming the false morel species Gyromitra esculenta.

The false morel (Gyromitra esculenta) is occasionally considered a delicacy when cooked, yet can be highly toxic when eaten raw.

It is significantly less prized in Slavic countries where, like the Gyromitra esculenta, is considered marginally edible with mediocre palatability.

Outside of Europe, Gyromitra esculenta is consumed in the Great Lakes region and some western states in the United States.

Monomethylhydrazine is believed to be the main cause of the toxicity of Gyromitra genus mushrooms, especially the false morel (Gyromitra esculenta).

Although more abundant in montane and northern coniferous woodlands such as the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Range in northwestern North America, Gyromitra esculenta is found widely across the continent, as far south as Mexico.

In 1849, Elias Magnus Fries established the genus Gyromitra, distinguishing it from Helvella based on a gyrose hymenium (marked with wavy lines or convolutions); the genus was based on the type species Gyromitra esculenta.

The Gyromitra esculenta is considered poisonous, but can be consumed if dried and stored for over a year, according to Slavic literature, and can be used to supplement or replace morel (see Morchellaceae below) mushrooms, while Western literature claims that even the fumes of the mushroom are dangerous.