Although the common morel is Morchella esculenta, it is only 'common' by name: far more plentiful nowadays are the black morels, Morchella elata, shown above. How so? It's all to do with the fashion for mulching flower beds in gardens and parks using woodchip: black morels often erupt in vast numbers among bark and wood chippings put down the previous year.
Notice how the pits on the cap are in neat vertical lines - a distinguishing feature of this much-sought-after edible mushroom. The only nasty that you could possibly mistake for a morel is Gyromitra esculenta. That specific name 'esculenta' suggests an edible species, but in this case it's definitely not - or at least several people have suffered serious poisoning after eating it (even though some people report no problems after eating Gyromita esculenta, the false morel (also called the 'turban fungus'. So here is the enemy, G esculenta:
There are no pits on the cap of this poisonous species, so armed with this information I hope you will feel confident enough to gather and enjoy a few morels this spring.
2 comments:
Glad to see someone posting about the dangers of the Gyromitra esculenta. There are unscrupulous dealers who sell this mushroom.
What are your thoughts on the edibility of the Verpa bohemica, or early morel. I find this mushroom to risky to eat, although there are many to claim they are harmless.
I've not found Verpa bohemica in the UK, but it certainly is well known in many European countries. All reports suggest that it is seriously suspect, although like Gyromitra esculenta there are plenty of people recommending it as edible. I would treat it like any other "false morel" and not eat any of them.
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