Black Morel

Description

The black morel (in Polish literature also "smardz wyniosły") has a slender, conical to bell-shaped head with a pointed apex, coloured from reddish-brown to almost black. The surface is divided by vertical ridges and horizontal cross-ridges into pits, like a honeycomb. The stem is pale, whitish to pale ochre, and the whole fruiting body is hollow inside. It is usually 4-10 cm tall.

It grows in spring on poor, sandy soils, in forests and at their edges and in tall-herb vegetation. Like other morels, it is under partial protection in Poland: specimens growing outside gardens, horticultural crops, forest nurseries and green areas are protected. The taxonomy of black morels is being revised, so in practice the name of the species is sometimes uncertain.

It must never be eaten raw. If you are not sure of the species, do not pick or eat it.

Identification features

Cap

The head (the spore-bearing part) makes up 1/2 to 2/3 of the height of the fruiting body (fruiting body 4-10, rarely up to 15 cm tall); it is hollow inside, slender, conical to bell-shaped with a pointed apex, and about as wide as the stem. Colour from reddish-brown to blackish-brown. Vertical ridges and horizontal cross-ridges enclose pits (alveoli), arranged in a "ladder-like" pattern. The margin of the head is not turned in. In species of the Elata clade the sterile ridges darken with age.

Hymenophore (underside of the cap)

The hymenium lines the pits; the ridges are sterile. No gills or tubes (Ascomycota).

Stem

Colour from white to pale ochre-yellow, slightly wrinkled, somewhat powdery, hollow inside. No ring and no volva.

Flesh

Brittle, waxy, with a pleasant smell and taste (do not taste the flesh of unidentified mushrooms). Not suitable for eating raw.

Spore print and spores

No data on spore print colour or spore dimensions. Spores single-celled, hyaline, with oil droplets at the poles.

Habitat and distribution

Ecology. A terrestrial fungus, according to some authors a saprotroph, according to others mycorrhizal. Grows in forests and at their edges, in tall-herb vegetation in sunny places, usually on poor, sandy soils. Fries's original description concerned a specimen from a fir forest in Sweden, from damp, burnt places.

Distribution. Reported from the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, but after the taxonomic revision its range is uncertain. In Poland about 50 sites up to 2020, all requiring revision; the online mushroom atlas lists many new ones. On the list of threatened species worthy of protection. Under strict protection in 1983-2014; since 2014 under partial protection (Dz.U. 2014 item 1408): specimens growing outside gardens, horticultural crops, forest nurseries and green areas are protected.

Fruiting. In spring; exact months - no data.

What can it be confused with?

• Morchella conica — Similar shape and surface of the head; in M. conica the head is much wider than the stem and its margin curves away from the stem. The boundary between the species is uncertain because of the taxonomic revision.
• Morchella esculenta and other morels — Yellow morels have paler ridges; black ones darken with age. According to some sources, telling the species apart requires a microscope.
• Gyromitra spp. (false morels) — False morels have a brain-like folded, not elongated, head.

Never rely on a single feature. If you are not sure — do not pick it; show the mushroom to a qualified mushroom expert.

Interesting facts

• Until 2012 the name M. elata was widely used for black morels around the world; DNA showed that there are several dozen distinct morel species (over 60 worldwide).
• Fries described the species in 1822 from a specimen from a fir forest in Sweden, calling it rare.
• In 1983-2014 it was under strict protection in Poland, and since 2014 under partial protection.
• The variety M. elata var. purpurascens, with purple or pink tones, now belongs to a separate phylogenetic lineage.