The Morel Story.....

[PMG]

You can imagine my surprise and delight at finding these on my lawn this afternoon!





As some of you will know apart from the recent carefully arranged hol in the Cairngorms I've not been getting out locally to look for stuff recently due to the change from 3 hrs 50mins a day ranger job to 24/7 carer so I was delighted to spot these from the conservatory window this morning ............

And the 'morel of the story' is .............

............ they came from a rather countryfied upmarket sort of supermarket

Heh! heh! heh!

Now do you believe I'm getting stir crazy from shopping, cleaning, cooking and caring

Pauline

[J]

ha ha ha you xexexexexexe! I was sooo excited and intrigued. Been out every day for 3 weeks without success. grrr. what supermarket? I wouldnt mind buying some fresh ones anyway! had a bumper haul of st gs today though. yey

[FungiJohn]

You naughty girl you Pauline

You've still found some morels though! Well done

John

[ron1863]

Nice one Pauline

[PMG]

Sorry guys - I just couldn't resist a wind up - anything to brighten things up a bit plus I thought here's my chance to see what Nick's always going on about

I can report they were delicious, fried in butter with ordinary mushrooms to add bulk and added to a large pot of creme freche and a small pot of x-tra thick double cream, heated and thickened, then cooked cubed chicken stirred in - heated up and served on a bed of wild and basmati rice, with barely cooked peas and chopped celery and sugar snaps stirred into the rice ........ mmmm - yum ..... think I had better take my statins and an asprin tonight

Pauline

|PS Do I get a gold star for finding some then John??

[FungiJohn]

Originally Posted by PMG

Sorry guys - I just couldn't resist a wind up - anything to brighten things up a bit plus I thought here's my chance to see what Nick's always going on about

I can report they were delicious, fried in butter with ordinary mushrooms to add bulk and added to a large pot of creme freche and a small pot of x-tra thick double cream, heated and thickened, then cooked cubed chicken stirred in - heated up and served on a bed of wild and basmati rice, with barely cooked peas and chopped celery and sugar snaps stirred into the rice ........ mmmm - yum ..... think I had better take my statins and an asprin tonight

Pauline

|PS Do I get a gold star for finding some then John??

You get 5 gold stars from me Pauline

That’s what I call using your initiative … none of this prancing around chasing rabbits through ash trees and tripping over ground ivy

John

[PMG]

I could do with a bit of prancing around - might get some weight off! After me having some fun with this my best friend has actually had a morel turn up in her front garden - a real one - not from the supermarket shelves! She's gobsmacked and delighted as her front garden is pocket handie-sized in an urban street - ok not far from - a couple of 100 yards maybe from open land and the start of various old pathways to Pennington Flash - but still a street in every sense of the word - and not an ash tree for miles!! Just shows!

Pauline

[J]

Do you know which morel it was by any chance, what colour was it Pauline? Did she find it on the lawn or on woodchip? Well done your mate!!! Jolly jeleouse! Thanks for the update, its spurred me on to continue my search.

[PMG]

Originally Posted by J

Do you know which morel it was by any chance, what colour was it Pauline? Did she find it on the lawn or on woodchip? Well done your mate!!! Jolly jeleouse! Thanks for the update, its spurred me on to continue my search.

I'm not sure which species but as you say it appears to be with the woodchip - what a find eh?! I love my mate Joan too much to be jealous (I think?!!!!) Poss/prob M. esculenta agg.




Pauline

[NickCantle]

Young M. elata Pauline

Here's my first one, though rather dehydrated;

[J]

wow, well done you 2! Nick, I thought M elata was dk/black and M esculenta was light/yellow....does Paulines mate not have M Esculenta growing...also i thought only the dk ones where known to grow in forest mulch/bark chippings?

Had loadsa rain down here in the past 2 days. going out this weekend to see whats about.

[PMG]

Mmmm........... I thought she was winding me up when I first got the text! I tend to think its a variety of esculenta cos its light coloured but there are bark chippings which will in all prob be conifer - so for me unless it was anyalised I tend to think the commoner one esculenta - just a bit distorted - which many of them are ....... dunno - wouldn't argue - esp not with my favourite Nick!!!

Pauline

[NickCantle]

I would be surprised if this was M. esculenta :P

M. elata is not always black and in the mass majority of cases assumes a conical shape. I'd welcome other thoughts

Good find regardless of species though

[FungiJohn]

Yes, a good find

It's definately not M. esculenta but M. elata as Nick suggests. Note the upper 'oblong' pits.

John

[J]

ok thanks guys. Wow, cant wait to find my first!

[PMG]

Thanks guys - I'm out of practice - been and had a look at it in the real world of Joan's front garden - she must have devastating eyesight to have spotted it in the first place - and yes of course its elata - the shape, the pits and it is quite dark brown in the flesh - not honey-coloured as the photograph - so well done Joan and thanks chaps for ID.

Pauline

[fungi2bwith]

Today while in a wood south of Basingstoke over chalk ground and under Ash (guess what I was looking for ) I found this:



Not what I was looking for, but good nonetheless as I have never seen this before. Does finding Mitrophora semilibera mean that this is the wrong envronment for Morchela esculanta?

[PMG]

Originally Posted by fungi2bwith

Today while in a wood south of Basingstoke over chalk ground and under Ash (guess what I was looking for ) I found this:



Not what I was looking for, but good nonetheless as I have never seen this before. Does finding Mitrophora semilibera mean that this is the wrong envronment for Morchela esculanta?

Well I'd be chuffed with that - more than chuffed in fact - as folk know from earlier threads on here I last saw this species in 1984 in Sea Wood at Ulverston and photographed it with my old Pentax 1000 and slide film.... I've been digital since 1999 and really want to apply the digi to this fabulous species - but have I found it since - despite searching - every year? Nope! Musn't be looking properly - or my eyesight is failing from age ......... or something!

Whether finding one rules out the other I'm not sure - but I am sure Nick or Fungi John will be along soon and will have the answer - but a good find fungi2bwith and a good pic

Pauline

[NickCantle]

Even though the habitats seem very similar, the differences I'm aware of are the soil moisture level (usually greater where M. semilibera grow) and a few subtle foliage differences. I've found a few Mitrophora before and they were all in a damp wood with Ash and Celandine. If I was looking for Morchella, Id be concerned by the lack of Ground Ivy and Wood Anemone. Even though I've never had the pleasure in finding M. esculenta, I'd expect to find it on higher ground and probably in quite close proximity to an Ash. However, fungi can be extremely
unpredictable so I wouldn't be that surprised to see either growing in a habitat made up of some of the aforementioned plants, and not the exact plants that they are 'supposed' to grow alongside...if only Morels read books- we'd all be in luck

That said, the latter species has eluded me for five years so my research notes are more than likely outdated.

[fungi2bwith]

Thanks Nick. Although not in the picture, there was plenty of ground Ivy, but I did not spot any wood anenome.
Garry

[FungiJohn]

Originally Posted by fungi2bwith

Thanks Nick. Although not in the picture, there was plenty of ground Ivy, but I did not spot any wood anenome.
Garry

Hi Garry

A good find!

I wouldn't worry about wood anenome being present, there's no association with this plant. It's more to do with the supporting habitat.

M. esculenta IMO requires a much dryer habitat and certainly less competition from other plants.

Of the 6 sites I know, 2 are generally covered with ground ivy to some extent whilst the others have none! The most common attributes (again IMO) are well drained sandy soil, south facing, on sloping ground, naturally disturbed by rabbits and few humans ... and ALWAYS with ASH!

I have never found Mitrophora semilibera in esculenta locations. It is more likely and common in grassy areas next to hawthorn.

Hope this helps

John

[fungi2bwith]

Hi John,
Thanks very much for your help.
Garry

[FungiJus]

Been finding a lot of Morchella semilibera recently - got these on Sunday morning - when I was out looking for you know what!



Cheers,
J.


P.S. - if you ever find your way 'down south' Pauline - I'd be happy to share this spot with you - they come up in the same place every year - just like FJ's M esculenta, but not so tasty.

[NickCantle]

Lovely specimens Jus, and the photograph really does them justice. It's a pretty enchanting picture IMO

[FungiJus]

Well your opinion means a lot to me Nick - especially when it comes to photographing fungi!

Cheers for the comments.