# Is this a morel? (picture)



## jamieking989 (Feb 7, 2004)

I have a few of these mushrooms by my porch. Not sure if it is a morel or not. The other 2 had the top just about gone. Just curious what kind they are. I've been living here 15 years and never had mushrooms like this appear.

thanks








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## ArrowHawk (Apr 1, 2003)

Yes but you should have left the base in the ground also check to see if its a true Morel (Hollow not Solid)


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## Whit1 (Apr 27, 2001)

ArrowHawk said:


> Yes but you should have left the base in the ground........


Why??????


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## FIJI (May 15, 2003)

Cut Morels above the Base or They'll Stop Appearing"

"There is a very good reason to cut morels with a knife when you're picking them: the dirt-covered bases don't wind up in your bag, and cleaning the mushrooms is much easier when you get home. Other than that, however, there's no reason to slice them rather than pick them. Assuming you're not thinking of digging up a square foot of topsoil in order to pick a morel, you're not going to damage the mycelium by gently tugging the mushroom out of the ground."

Leave a Few Sitting So the Spot Will Keep Producing"

The mycelium of the morel mushroom grows by "feeding on" nutrients in the ground. Just as leaving a few apples on an apple tree would not affect whether the tree continued to make apples, leaving a few morels standing has absolutely no effect on the mycelium of the mushroom. Neither does it affect whether spores are spread in the immediate area since, by picking the mushrooms, you would spread plenty of spores--and since the vast majority of the spores are probably headed for somewhere miles away, anyway.


http://www.mushroomexpert.com/morels/picking.html

http://www.morelheaven.com/

http://www.morelheaven.com/aboutus.html


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## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

That looks like a false morel to me.


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## ArrowHawk (Apr 1, 2003)

I like to pinch off the base when picking. First reason, I don't have to cut them off later. Second reason, can see if it a really morel and not a false that way.
Besides that no real reason.


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## Oldgrandman (Nov 16, 2004)

swampbuck said:


> That looks like a false morel to me.


It is a morel. Morchella esculenta I imagine. Yum.
As for pulling the root, I doubt anyone really knows for sure if it matters to the "plant" or not but just to keep em clean is enough for me to leave the base behind.


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## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

it may be a morel, but the webbing/honeycomb pattern on the cap dont look right. I would like to see a picture of it cut in half.


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## slayer (Jun 1, 2002)

When you pick them carry them in a onion bag and the spores will be spread around the area


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## eddiejohn4 (Dec 23, 2005)

open the stem true morels are hollow, vespras(false morel) have a cotton looking fiber lining the stem.


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## Wolf_Dancer34 (Nov 14, 2006)

ArrowHawk said:


> Yes but you should have left the base in the ground also check to see if its a true Morel (Hollow not Solid)


the title says it all----mushrooms are spread by spores not the roots....


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## ArrowHawk (Apr 1, 2003)

Like I said in my other post that leaving the root is a personal thing.

Besides everyone knows the spores are released as soon as the morel pops up and they are released from the area of where the cap and stem are connected. The onion bag thing is an old wise tail.

The roots are also attached to an underground webbing system which the spores create but pulling the root will not hurt the system, it will just cause the system to recreate itself.


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## Radar420 (Oct 7, 2004)

I'm 99.9% sure that the picture is of a white morel.

As for using a mesh bag to spread spores, I'm going to venture a guess as to say that the vast majority of spores have already been released by the time anyone picks them. Think about it - if a large number of spores were to remain in the fruiting body then that wouldn't be a very successful genetic adaptation as the spores wouldn't get spread outside their existing ranges.

But, here is a seperate observation on mushroom reproduction. Now I don't know if this is true for morels but I remember in my biology class that many classes of fungi exist underground in an interconnected web of mycelium. The mycelium will grow and spread for years but may not ever produce mushrooms. It isn't until the mycelium from one batch of fungus eventually comes in contact with a different mycelium from another batch. When the myceliums from the two batches become interconnected then the myceliums undergo a type of sexual reproduction and that is how the "plant" produces "fruit" (ie mushrooms). To me this would seem to make sense with morels and why certain areas "dry up" as they no longer have access to different myceliums to reproduce

As for pulling vs cutting, I always cut at the base to, most importantly, keep dirt out but also limit what damage may occur to the mycelium. While some may argue that it does nothing to the mycelium I've heard pulling equated to breaking the branch off of an apple tree to get the apple. While this may not be true, I figure why chance it. If everyone knew everything there was to know about morels, than you'd be able to pick them up at Meijer's with the portabellas and white buttons. 

just my .02


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## Oldgrandman (Nov 16, 2004)

Wolf_Dancer34 said:


> the title says it all----mushrooms are spread by spores not the roots....


The morel "plant" is reproduced by it's spores. The morel is the fruit of the "plant" which grows like roots under the ground.
A spore does not land and next year pop a morel, although there is some speculation (I have read) that could happen but, where you get them year after year is a place that has this underground "system" that fruits morels when the season and conditions are right. The morel has only been reproduced in recent decades and is probably not completely understood yet.
It is what I have read and fully believe to be true anyways. *Get a book* or two or more, mushrooms are very interesting and fun to find and photograph if nothing else.
Anyone who hasn't grown up with a family of shroomers and learned from the experiences and knowledge of people who been at it for generations should rely on a *book*, not posts in a forum. I do both and am still here :chillin: 
Now you look that pictured mushroom up in a book and look up false morels, you'll clearly see what it is.
GOOD LUCK OUT THERE!


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## bluekim7 (Mar 24, 2005)

Yes it is a morel, some people call them whites and some call them grey morels. Not sure the exact name. I will be posting a picture today when I get my digital back of how we did yesterday. We found a ton of the whites like you have. We eat them every year. Did you find it around an Ash Tree?


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## woodie slayer (Feb 25, 2006)

that is a white or yellow morel..not a grey morel..

best eating roon out there.


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## bluekim7 (Mar 24, 2005)

Never heard them called a yellow, but you are probably correct. Just heard old timers always call them whites or Greys. But they are very tasty.





woodie slayer said:


> that is a white or yellow morel..not a grey morel..
> 
> best eating roon out there.


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## Rencoho (Oct 18, 2000)

Definitely a morel, and I always pinch or cut them above the base, keeps the sand and grit to a minimum.


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