Morchella esculenta Pers. ex St. Amans Speisemorchel, Morille comestible, Morel. Fruit body 6–20cm high, very variable, fertile head round to ovoid or obtusely conical, pale yellowish-brown darkening and browning with age, ridges acute and forming an irregular honeycomb around the angular pits; stalk minutely scurfy, slightly swollen at the base and longitudinally furrowed, whitish to ochraceous cream. Asci 330 x 20µ. Spores cream, broadly elliptical, 16–19 x 8.5–11µ. Habitat in open scrub or woodland or on waste ground. Season late spring. Uncommon. Edible – excellent. Distribution, America and Europe. Several forms are recognized in Europe; var. rotunda has a roundish ochre-yellow fertile head, while that of var. crassipes is grey-brown and the stalk granular and much swollen at the base; var. umbrina is smaller then the type with a dark greyish-black fertile head. Note in north America there are forms of Morchella esculenta growing under Hickoties, Elms and Tulip Trees, they are normally smaller and rather tall and narrow, I have encluded them here, but one day they may be described as different varieties. |