Morchella esculenta - Morel

Taxonomy

Class: Pezizomycetes

Order: Pezizales

Family: Morchellaceae

Morchella esculenta, the Morel, fruits from March to June and is a very popular edible fungus, although not common in Britain and Ireland. The flesh is rarely ruined by insects or other small creatures, but stems can be pierced by bugs that find the cavity within the cap and stem a handy hideout. Before cooking Morels, slice vertically through each fruitbody to check for occupants. Mainly found in chalky woodlands, Morchella esculenta occasionally appears also on disturbed soil in gardens.

Although this is a highly prized edible mushroom - esculenta means ‘edible’ - it must always be cooked thoroughly or it can cause stomach pains and sickness.

There is a risk of confusing Morchella esculenta with the deadly poisonous False Morel Gyromitra esculenta, whose cap has a brain-like surface rather than a pitted surface.

Identification guide

	Cap Sometimes conical, but more often globular or an elongated vertical oval; flesh waxy; hollow; covered in an irregular array of pits separated by narrow ridges; pale cream, ochre, yellowish brown or mid brown, with the ribs along the ridges sometimes a slightly darker shade than that of the pits; cap margin inrolled and fused to stem; 3 to 8cm across and 5 to 12cm tall. Stem White or pale cream, sometimes marked with brown blotches near the base; flesh tough; hollow; smooth; 3 to 12cm tall and 1.5 to 6cm diameter at the base, usually tapering towards the apex.
Spore print	Creamy white or pale ochre.
Odour/taste	Not distinctive.
Habitat	On chalky soil under deciduous trees; occasionally with dwarf willow on calcareous dune slacks.
Season	March to early June.
Occurrence	Infrequent.
Similar species	Morchella elata has a darker pitted cap with cupped surfaces aligned in columns; it is usually more pointed. Gyromitra esculenta has a red-brown, brain-like cap and a stipe that is hollowed into several chambers. Helvella crispa has a fluted, broader stem with external grooves and internal hollow channels.