Early Morel

Description

The early morel is a spring mushroom with a brown, smooth or slightly pitted bell- or thimble-shaped cap, 1–4 cm tall. The cap hangs like a skirt from the very top of a pale, brittle, hollow stem that is 5–10 cm long. The flesh is thin and fragile, with a mild taste and a pleasant smell.

It grows in April and May, singly or in groups, at the edges of forests and thickets and in grassy places, often in river valleys, during the morel season. In Poland it is rare and partially protected.

The easiest way to tell it from true morels is the cap: in morels it is attached to the stem at the margin and the inside is hollow from top to bottom, while in the early morel it hangs only from the top and can be easily removed from the stem. It can also be confused with Verpa bohemica, which has larger fruiting bodies and a more wrinkled cap, and the variety with a wrinkled cap can resemble the poisonous false morels. If you are not sure of the species, do not collect or eat it.

Identification features

Cap

Bell-shaped to broadly conical, 1–4 cm tall, 1–4 cm wide. Surface smooth or irregularly pitted (a variety with a wrinkled cap can resemble Gyromitra). Colour ochre-brown to brown. The cap is attached to the stipe only at the apex, and the margin is free and hangs like a skirt; the cap is easily separated from the stipe. Underside light brown to dark brown.

Hymenophore (underside of the cap)

No gills, pores or spines. The spore-bearing layer (hymenium) covers the outer surface of the cap. The cap is attached to the stipe only in its upper part.

Stem

Length 2–12 cm (usually 5–10 cm), thickness 1–3 cm, equal or slightly widened towards the base. Colour whitish to pale yellow, surface smooth or slightly fuzzy, with transverse wrinkles and brown granules. Hollow inside; in young specimens it may be filled with cotton-like hyphae.

Flesh

Thin, brittle, waxy. Smell pleasant, taste mild. Do not taste the flesh for identification.

Spore print and spores

Spore print colour: no data. Spores ellipsoid, smooth, colourless (hyaline), 28–34 × 15–19 µm.

Habitat and distribution

Ecology. Terrestrial saprotrophic fungus. Grows singly, scattered or in groups, at the edges of forests and thickets, in grassy places, in deciduous and coniferous forests, often in river valleys and along stream banks.

Distribution. Widespread in North America, Europe and Asia; also occurs in New Zealand. Rare in Poland: about 60 localities had been reported in the scientific literature by 2020. On the Red List of Plants and Fungi of Poland it has category R (rare). In 1983–2014 it was under strict protection in Poland, and since 2014 it has been under partial protection (Dz.U. 2014 item 1408). It is not approved for sale according to the Polish Ministry of Health list.

Fruiting. In Poland from April to May; in North America from March to June. Fruiting bodies usually appear during the morel season.

What can it be confused with?

• Morchella esculenta (yellow morel) — The morel's cap is attached to the stem at the margin, and the whole fruiting body is hollow inside. In the early morel the cap hangs only from the top of the stem, and its margin is free.
• Morchella elata (black morel) — The cap has a distinct network of ridges and pits and is fused with the stem at the base; in the early morel the cap is smooth or only irregularly pitted and hangs from the top of the stem.
• Verpa bohemica (wrinkled thimble-cap) — Larger fruiting bodies, and the cap surface is distinctly wrinkled.
• Morchella semilibera (half-free morel) — The cap is attached to the stem at about half its height; in the early morel only at the very top.
• Gyromitra (false morels) — The variety of the early morel with a wrinkled cap can resemble them. False morels have a brain-like folded cap and are poisonous, so if in doubt do not collect.
• Phallus (stinkhorns) — Stinkhorns smell of carrion or sewage, whereas the early morel smells pleasant.

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

• First described in 1775 by Otto Friedrich Müller as Phallus conicus; since the early 19th century it has belonged to the genus Verpa.
• Names in several languages refer to a thimble: the English thimble morel, the German Fingerhutverpel and the Polish naparstniczka.
• In 1983–2014 it was under strict protection in Poland, and since 2014 it has been under partial protection.
• According to studies on the antioxidant activity of mushrooms, an extract of this species performed particularly well in terms of reducing power.