Hobbies And Interests
Identification
Of the thousands of species of wild mushrooms, morel mushrooms stand out as some of the most easily identified of the lot. Their porous, honeycombed structure is unlike just about all of the other mushrooms in the fungus world. Most of the specific names of different types of morels refer to their coloration, the most common being blacks, yellows and blondes. While their color, size, density and shape can vary, the undulating texture of deep valleys and ridges forming a brain-like cap remains constant.
Another aspect of morels that makes them stand out has nothing to do with their appearance but with the fact they they are fond of spring and summer. Contrary to most wild mushrooms, it is rare to find even one morel in the fall or winter, with the majority of morels in the northern hemisphere occurring between April and September.
Warnings
Even though morels are one of the easiest mushrooms to recognize in the field, there are a couple of look-alikes, and while not poisonous, they can make you quite sick if ingested. The verpa species of mushroom is most commonly mistaken for morels. They are known to cause nausea and even dementia in rare cases. The best way to differentiate between verpas and morels is that verpa caps are only attached mainly at the top to the stem of the mushroom like an umbrella whereas morels' stalk and cap are one piece.
Considerations
There are plenty of ways to be absolutely sure that you have a morel before eating it. Some books such as "Mushrooms Demystified" can help immensely, but but there is no substitute for a good hands-on personal guide. If nothing less, bring your mushrooms into a high-end restaurant and they should be able to help you identify the more common edibles like morels. When you are sure you have a morel, it's time to cook it --- it's not a good idea to eat morels raw because they are tough to digest and might have come across who-knows what on the forest floor before you picked them.