Morel

From Free net encyclopedia

For other uses, see Morel (disambiguation).

{{Taxobox | color = lightblue | name = Morel | image = Morel01 iga mie jp.jpg | image_width = 250px | regnum = Fungi | divisio = Ascomycota | classis = Pezizomycetes | ordo = Pezizales | familia = Morchellaceae | genus = Morchella | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = Morchella angusticeps
Morchella conica
Morchella costata
Morchella crassipes
Morchella elata
Morchella esculenta
Morchella gigas
Morchella semilibera
Morchella spongiola
Morchella spongiola var. dunensis
Morchella vulgaris
Morchella sp. MA4SSI73
Morchella sp. UC 1475091 }} The morel is a type of edible cup fungus. It produces a highly porous ascocarp, prized by gourmet cooks, particularly for French cuisine.

The best known morel is the Morchella deliciosa, which is commonly known as simply "morel." Other types include Morchella esculenta, M. elata, M. semilibera, and M. vulgaris. Mushroom hunters will commonly refer to them by their color, i.e., gray, yellow, black, etc., as the species are very similar in appearance and vary considerably within species and age of individual mushroom.

The morel is the state mushroom of Minnesota.

When gathering morels, care must be taken to distinguish them from the poisonous false morel (Gyromitra esculenta and others). However, morels are fairly distinctive in appearance.

The morel grows abundantly in the two and sometimes three years immediately following a forest fire, but where fire suppression is practiced, may grow regularly though in small amount in the same spot year after year. These spots may be jealously guarded by mushroom pickers, as the mushrooms represent a cash crop. They may grow near certain types of trees in symbiotic relationship with them, although this is not yet proven. (There is some evidence that disturbance-following morels may be different species than those growing in relatively undisturbed sites, but genetic confirmation has not yet been accomplished.) Commercial pickers and buyers in North America will follow forest fires to gather morels. Morels have not yet been successfully farmed on a large scale, and the commercial morel industry is based on harvest of wild mushrooms.

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