# Black Morel habitat ?



## Radar420 (Oct 7, 2004)

Where do you guys usually look for black morels at? More specifically around what types of trees? Down here, I find 100s of yellows/grays/whites each year but have only stumbled upon a patch of blacks once. They were in someone's garden and that garden no longer exists. Should I just stick to the general areas I find whites at and hope that there are blacks in the vicinity or should I be searching different areas?


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## MAttt (Dec 15, 2004)

In your area and north of you in Lapeer I'd be looking around Big Tooth Aspen trees in sandy soil during the last 2 weeks of April.

What kind of trees do you find most of your morels at right now in your area?

thanks 
Mattt


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## Radar420 (Oct 7, 2004)

MAttt said:


> What kind of trees do you find most of your morels at right now in your area?


The majority of my whites are found near dead elms but I've found a few around cottonwoods and ashes as well.


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## huntndaddy (Mar 25, 2005)

Basically all the above. I would like to stress the White Ash Tree, You will find all colors of morels throughout the season, White pines are good also. Poplars and silver maples.

Good Luck


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## VARMINTHUNTERLAKEORION (Jan 12, 2005)

Some years Beech Trees will produce Blacks/Whites pretty heavily, find patches of ginseng and you'll usually find the Gigantic goldens, rocky outcroppings with moss present will usually produce heavy blacks, leeks are always a good indication of morel's present - more so the blacks. Anywheres that you find a heavy concentration of Sno-mold on the ground cover(leaves) will usually be a good productive area for morel's both blacks/whites. Ash trees, dead/dying elms, dogwood, jack n the pulpit, trout lilly's, apple/fruit trees & poison ivy will produce the whites/greys.


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## walleyeman2006 (Sep 12, 2006)

my patches of whites and blacks are under big oaks...but its with in 200 yards of saginaw bay and the water temp affects it odly some years i get blacks then whites or white then blacks and sometimes its all at once in that perticular spot....the other spots that seem to be a little more prdictable are around blue berry patches....bottom of the ridges leading to the swamps


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## Oldgrandman (Nov 16, 2004)

MAttt gives good advice.
Older popple stands that are on hilly terrain with maybe some water down below are good places for blacks. The woods should have a lot of wood and leaf debris on the floor. It's kind of hard to explain but with a moldy look to it as well.


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## otown (Jul 11, 2003)

Old man offers his opinion after about 60 years of bumbling about in the woods;
If you are talking about what we call 'spikes' or, more affectionately, a part of a male dog's reproductive anatomy, the advice given is pretty good. If you are talking about the black sponge, look to ash trees. My grandfather hunted blacks by looking up, not down. The ash is the last hardwood to flush new leaves and he always said they were up when the new growth was 'as big as a mouse's ear'.
I remember walking the woods when I was 6 or 7 with him looking up and when we spotted an ash, we beelined for it. Darned if most had big blacks clustered around. I don't hear about or see pics of many black sponge finds and maybe what I think is fairly common where we hunt is rare elsewhere. Looks just like a yellow or grey except it's black. Good luck.
o town


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## Michigan Mike (May 21, 2004)

Hello otown...I don't think anyone is talking about spikes here(aka peckerhead,Morchella Semilibera) The most common trees in Michigan for Black Morels IMO are Big Tooth Aspen(aka poplar,popple) Black Cherry and White Ash trees. 
They will be found around others but I believe these are the top 3.


But in a good part of se michigan the White Ash has now met it's demise and no longer exists here.

Mike


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## otown (Jul 11, 2003)

Mike,
Glad to hear we are both on the same page and it's just that I don't see much reference to true blacks anymore or see pics.
I would guess most of the demographics for region on the site are further south than where I hang out and we still have enough ash to make life interesting.
Anyway, just an observation on my part and I grew up in the 50's and 60's when we used to count morels by the bushel rather than numerically. Hope I didn't damage the resource any, except the hardwoods are disappearing and that's not good and I had nothing to do with that.
Good hunting all.

o town


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## Michigan Mike (May 21, 2004)

Here's a picture of a few morels that you can find around poplars.
It's generally better to pick them when they are a little smaller.

http://www.pasty.com/discuss/messages/2392/2510.jpg

Mike


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## TheMAIT (Nov 7, 2005)

:cwm27: Get the heck outta my spot....vn!!


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## MAttt (Dec 15, 2004)

Michigan Mike said:


> Here's a picture of a few morels that you can find around poplars.
> It's generally better to pick them when they are a little smaller.
> 
> http://www.pasty.com/discuss/messages/2392/2510.jpg
> ...


We find them like that late in the season too, and I agree they are are
little too big for the table.:lol:


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## Yonkers (Mar 19, 2007)

What about SW michigan - Allegan and Ottawa Counties? What sort of trees/environment? I imagien the same, big tooth aspen with sandy soil?

I have never looked for/hunted for morels before but considering trying it this year. Another week or two most likely since we got hit with this snow storm?

Also anything I should know as a beginner, what is the rule if the head/top of the mushroom is attached it is a morel if it is not attached well it is an imposter right or backwards?


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## Michigan Mike (May 21, 2004)

Yonkers said:


> What about SW michigan - Allegan and Ottawa Counties? What sort of trees/environment? I imagien the same, big tooth aspen with sandy soil?
> 
> I have never looked for/hunted for morels before but considering trying it this year. Another week or two most likely since we got hit with this snow storm?
> 
> Also anything I should know as a beginner, what is the rule if the head/top of the mushroom is attached it is a morel if it is not attached well it is an imposter right or backwards?


Hello Yonkers
In one of the above posts by huntdaddy...click on his site that's in his signature...NorthernCountryMorels for your answer.
You'll find examples of true and false morel photos there along with a message board just full of vetran shroomers that can help you out for your area.

Mike


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## Yonkers (Mar 19, 2007)

Thanks Mike!


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## PrtyMolusk (Aug 13, 2000)

Howdy-

I've got 2 acres _full_ of mature oaks; as a _total_ newbie to 'shrooms, where/when should I be looking for _what_?


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## Radar420 (Oct 7, 2004)

PrtyMolusk said:


> I've got 2 acres _full_ of mature oaks; as a _total_ newbie to 'shrooms, where/when should I be looking for _what_?


Les 

In terms of true morels, I've never found any around oaks. I have found several beefsteaks - or false morels - around oaks and these are to be avoided (though some people apparently have a tolerance for them). As for other edible mushrooms around oaks, I'm sure others might be able to clue you in as I only hunt for morels.


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## Oldgrandman (Nov 16, 2004)

PrtyMolusk said:


> Howdy-
> 
> I've got 2 acres _full_ of mature oaks; as a _total_ newbie to 'shrooms, where/when should I be looking for _what_?


Morels can grow about anywhere, I have found anyways. Not always in good numbers though. They do not _typically_ thrive in oak dominanted woods as far as I can tell. If they are in a mixture of say beech, maple, ash, cherry, aspen (popples), etc. then yeah that could be a good spot. I have a few good spots with oak trees in them.
In summer and fall the 'chicken of the woods' and 'hen of the woods' can be found in oak woods and they are easy to ID if you do some research. Not morels but not bad eatin either IMHO. I prefer the later hens.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Forest braces for big crop of morels
Outlook uncertain, but foresters ready for rush of pickers

Gallatin National Forest lands charred by last summer's wildfires could yield a crop of highly valued morel mushrooms ... or they could not.

Either way, forest officials are prepared.

"It's kind of a big unknown for us," said Bill Avey, Big Timber district ranger. "We just don't know what to expect."

Black and gray morels, which can fetch commercial pickers anywhere from $5 to $30 a pound, are fire-activated, sprouting in the wake of wildfires. Because they're a cash crop, commercial pickers will swarm to recently burned areas in search of the fungi.

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/04/11/news/state/35-morels.txt


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