# I dont get why so many people think the half free morel isnt a real morel



## Daddy&leelee

I do alot of reading on line. I have three mushroom field guides that all say the half free morel (morchella semilbera) is ok to eat. Actually two of them say watch out for the black morel (Morchella Conica) because some people could get upset stomaches. Even people I hunt shrooms with think the half free is poisonous. People need to take the time to read the facts. The half free is a little more difficult to tell the diff between that and the Verp but after a couple encounters not really. I dont think the half free is as meaty as the rest but they dry out great make good soups,rice,and even a nice addition to a fresh pan of back straps in the fall. MY favorites are the young meaty blondes and greys. Im thirty years old. I wish my father new the difference but he's stuck in his ways and because his freinds dont belive me or the books he dont. He knows the difference too. He wont try a hen or chicken either. The only store bought shrooms i eat are ****ake and a portabella every now and then I love ****ake. Anyways have a good night.:rant::lol::coolgleam


----------



## Petronius

Leave the verpa's alone and the brain-on-a-stick, sometimes called false morels.


----------



## Daddy&leelee

I do leave the verpas alone (verpa bohemica) Also known as the false morel,or the wrinkled thimble cap as it is called in The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms and the Lone Pine field guide called Mushrooms of Norteast North America. People think the half free morel and the verpa are the same mushroom when they arent people call both the verpa and half free morel false morels. The half free is a true morel and is safe and edible as any of the other morels.actually safer than the black morel The black has caused gastric upsets in some people. The same people can eat the whites and half free without any adverse effects.


----------



## localyahoo

I wouldn't worry about it, that just means more for us!!!!!!


----------



## bassdisaster

Although most of the Half Free Morels I have found were rather small, they were tasty and a slightyly different color, compared to some of the Verpas Ive seen that stood some over 7" tall, The caps completly free of the stem, where as the Name of the Half free is exactly what you see if you cut em in half! How Kewl is that!

BD


----------



## Linda G.

and half-frees. Some people can eat them, I know lots who do. Others can't. I'm one of them. Was not violently ill but it was enough for me. I love black morels and can eat them by the bucket load. I know people who can't eat black morels, too, only the whites, and some who can't eat any at all. 

The only morel I know of that's poisonous to everybody is not really a morel-the false morel. 

Just depends, but it's an individual decision, and you shouldn't tell people that anything they've read about half frees being poisonous isn't true. To some people they are. 

Found out the hard way that I can't eat chantrelles, either. Didn't get any last year, too dry. But this year, if I get some, I'll sell them or give them away, but I won't be eating them. 

They're all Fungi...LOL
t


----------



## Zofchak

I've picked them a few times, but most of the ones I find are so small that it's hardly worth the effort.


----------



## MAttt

Zofchak said:


> I've picked them a few times, but most of the ones I find are so small that it's hardly worth the effort.


Same here.
Not worth the bother imo!
Now if I found them by the hundreds, that
would be a different story.


----------



## [email protected]

I agree the half free, or as some call it the horse tail is ok to eat by all studies. Though I still generally stick with the standard morels. The Verpa though is poison, and should be avoided.


----------



## Oldgrandman

I do not know how my folks got away with eating them _(Verpas)_ all those years. Not anymore though, they have quit the game and rely on me to provide them with morels now.
This is an interesting web page I am linking, cause my old Mushroom Hunters Field Guide book does not come out and say they _(Verpas)_ are bad for you but you should use caution. :yikes:

http://theforagerpress.com/fieldguide/gyromitra.htm


----------



## knockoff64

I'm with you Daddy!

Most seem to confuse them with Verpas, good for us.

I found some 10" tall and some with heads 1-1/2". I've stuffed the heads and save the stems for soup.

I pick hundreds every year.


----------



## Oldgrandman

knockoff64 said:


> *Most seem to confuse them with Verpas, good for us.*
> 
> I found some 10" tall and some with heads 1-1/2". I've stuffed the heads and save the stems for soup.
> 
> I pick hundreds every year.


*Thats right!* 
I had to edit my post above so people knew I was talking about the verpas. I know of no person who cannot eat any type of mushroom, but it is all too real of a condition that some people can have. 

I thank God above that I am not afflicted with such a misery!:woohoo1:


----------



## knockoff64

Oldgrandman said:


> *Thats right!*
> I had to edit my post above so people knew I was talking about the verpas. I know of no person who cannot eat any type of mushroom, but it is all too real of a condition that some people can have.
> 
> I thank God above that I am not afflicted with such a misery!:woohoo1:


Yep!

I've posted it before, I am one of those with allergies. Mine are not severe, but I avoid any questionable species. 

Grifola Frondosa is the worst for me, taste great but make me deathly ill.


----------



## Petronius

Oldgrandman said:


> *Thats right!*
> I had to edit my post above so people knew I was talking about the verpas. *I know of no person who cannot eat any type of mushroom,* but it is all too real of a condition that some people can have.
> 
> I thank God above that I am not afflicted with such a misery!:woohoo1:


Just remember, you can eat any mushroom you want, *ONCE!*


----------



## Linda G.

Remember that as you get older, there are changes in your body that may mean that what you were able to eat when you are young you can't touch when you're older...in women, those changes often take place after a pregnancy...hormones rule our bodies, male and female, and I believe also makes a difference in what you can safely eat.


----------



## steve myers

some of my family eats them but its not worth the chance of getting sick to me and usually find enough of morels to just bypass them for the next guy
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Oldgrandman

petronius said:


> Just remember, you can eat any mushroom you want, *ONCE!*


I was talking about the known edibles, I thought that would be obvious.

It isn't just mushrooms though, I do know a guy who cannot eat peanuts. Wow, life without Reeses minature peanut butter cups...couldn't imagine it! I have a small bag of these about every time I ice fish


----------



## Petronius

Oldgrandman said:


> I was talking about the known edibles, I thought that would be obvious.
> 
> It isn't just mushrooms though, I do know a guy who cannot eat peanuts. Wow, life without Reeses minature peanut butter cups...couldn't imagine it! I have a small bag of these about every time I ice fish


Many people have an intolerance towards certain foods and some have actual allergies. That's unfortunate. I think that most of us know which mushrooms are truly edible and which are not, yet there is a lot of old information still floating around out there. My friends and I joined a mushroom hunters group so we could learn from people with more experience. Part of the problem is the names that people use when talking about mushrooms. One example is the beefsteak. The beefsteak most people think of is the gyromitra esculenta, sometimes called brain on a stick. There is a beefsteak that is edible, but it is a completely different type and doesn't look the same.
There are several species of mushrooms that are called false morels, such as gyromitra esculenta and Verpa. Some people eat gyromitrin esculenta for years with no ill effects. However, they contain a toxic chemical that builds up in the body and can destroy the liver and cause death. The Verpas are sometimes called the Early Morel. Most consider these to be poisonous, yet some people will eat these too. I'm glad your folks let you pick their morels. We know one old gent that ate both types and said the experts didn't know what they were talking about. He is no longer with us.


----------



## walleyesteve2

knockoff64 said:


> I'm with you Daddy!
> 
> Most seem to confuse them with Verpas, good for us.
> 
> I found some 10" tall and some with heads 1-1/2". I've stuffed the heads and save the stems for soup.
> 
> I pick hundreds every year.


 I found 60 in a 20ft area last season! Gave them to my buddy-he like's them. Next season-if I find any-I may keep them for myself for soup-not much "Meat'' after the stem's.
Don't remember the sientific name but my grandpa used to eat a morel that was "red" in color, say's in my guide "do not eat". He said the trick was not to eat to many!!! He probly built up a imunity to the toxin??? After eating them for many year's???


----------



## Petronius

walleyesteve2 said:


> I found 60 in a 20ft area last season! Gave them to my buddy-he like's them. Next season-if I find any-I may keep them for myself for soup-not much "Meat'' after the stem's.
> Don't remember the sientific name but my grandpa used to eat a morel that was "red" in color, say's in my guide "do not eat". He said the trick was not to eat to many!!! He probly built up a imunity to the toxin??? After eating them for many year's???


Does the mushroom your grandfather ate look like this? They contain monmethylhydrazine, a chemical also found in rocket fuel. The toxin accumulates, you may eat these for years and then one day die.

Gyromitra esculenta, aka beefsteak


----------

