Morel mushrooms: photos and descriptions of species, what they look like, where they grow and when to collect
The most popular types of morels are conical (or tall), common, common round, semi-free, and morels. All of them lend themselves well to any culinary treatment - from cooking and frying to salting and pickling. Those mushrooms that have reached vegetative maturity can be dried. And young, small fruiting bodies are great for canning.
Avid mushroom pickers know perfectly well when to collect lines: these mushrooms appear in the forest for May Day or Victory Day. And right after them, and sometimes at the same time, you can go to the forest for the lines. For a long time, villagers associated the period of collecting morels with the spring replenishment of edible stocks. Very often, these mushrooms were the first full-fledged food after a hungry winter. Morels of all kinds are delicious mushrooms with delicate caps. They are good both fried and pickled and salted. In addition, some varieties have medicinal properties. You can familiarize yourself with the photo, description and distinctive features of lines of different types in this material.
Morel conical
Where conical morels (Morchella conica) grow: in grassy places of deciduous and mixed forests, often at the edges and in plantings, they grow in groups or singly.
Season: April May.
The hat has a diameter of up to 2-4 cm and a height of up to 10 cm. A distinctive feature of the species is a bell-conical gray-brown hat with a cellular surface. The cap grows together with the leg from below.
As you can see in the photo, in this species of morels, the surface of the cap is cellular-ribbed with elongated rhomboidal cells, similar to a honeycomb, separated from each other by dark partitions:
The leg is 3-8 cm high, 15-30 mm thick, white or yellowish, cylindrical, hollow inside.
Pulp: waxy, brittle, whitish, odorless and with a pleasant taste.
Plates. The leg in the upper part immediately passes into the cap, so there are no plates as such.
Variability. The color of the cap changes, at first it is gray-brown, later gray-brown or olive-black.
Similar species. According to the description, the conical morel mushroom looks like common morel (Morchella esculeuta)... The main difference is in the village. usually not sharp-conical or candle-shaped, but rounded cap-shaped.
Cooking methods: mushrooms are fried, boiled, canned.
Edible, 3rd category.
Medicinal properties:
- Morel tincture and extract is used to restore vision.
- It is used to treat myopia, age-related hyperopia and cataracts.
- For a long time, morels have calmed the nervous system and restored visual acuity.
Morel cap
Habitats of morel cap (Verpa conica): sandy and calcareous soils in deciduous and mixed forests, grow in small groups.
Season: April May
The hat has a diameter of 2-4 cm, a height of 2-4 cm, the shape of the mushroom is candle-shaped with a cap. A distinctive feature of the species is a long cream-white stem and a brown or olive-brown wrinkled small bell-shaped cap. The cap is attached to the stem at the top of the cap so that the edges of the cap remain free.
The leg is 3-12 cm high, 5-18 mm thick, long and whitish, cylindrical, with a mealy bloom, hollow inside. The surface of the stem is often covered with small brownish granules, which are located longitudinally.
Pulp: whitish, delicate, brittle, odorless and tasteless. Spores are white.
Plates. The leg in the upper part immediately passes into the cap and there are practically no plates.
Variability. The color of the cap varies from brown to olive green to olive brown.
Similar species. The morel cap is similar to the morel (Morchella esculenta).
Edible, 4th category.
Morel common
Where are common morels (Morchella esculenta) harvested: in grassy places of deciduous and mixed forests, more often next to ash, poplar, elm, in bushes, on the edges and in plantings, they grow in groups or singly.
Season: March - May.
The hat has a diameter of 4-8 cm and a height of up to 10 cm. A distinctive feature of the species is an ovoid or conical-bell-shaped cap of light brown or brown color with a cellular surface. The cap grows together with the leg from below. The surface of the cap is cellular-ribbed with elongated rhomboidal cells, similar to a honeycomb, separated from each other by thin partitions.
The leg is 4-12 cm high, 15-30 mm thick, thick and strong, grooved, yellowish or light brown, cylindrical, hollow inside. The base of the pedicle is strongly thickened.
Pulp: whitish, light brown, with a faint pleasant odor.
Plates. The leg in the upper part immediately passes into the cap, so there are no plates as such.
Variability. The color of the cap varies from light brown and yellow-brown to dark brown.
Similar species. Morel mushrooms by the nature of the surface look like conical morels (Morchella conica). A distinctive feature of the common morel is a relatively large honeycomb cap, which is attached to the stem along the entire contact plane.
Cooking methods: mushrooms are fried, boiled, canned, dried.
Edible, 3rd category.
Medicinal properties: They are similar to conical morels.
These photos show what the common morels look like:
Morel common round
Habitats of common morel (Morchella esculenta, var.rotunda): on old fallen trees covered with moss, in deciduous and mixed forests.
When morel common round mushrooms grow: April May.
A distinctive feature of the species is the small rounded shape of the entire mushroom without a stem, or with a rudimentary stem. The surface of the mushroom is wavy and bumpy. The size of the mushroom is 0.5-4 cm.
Pulp: whitish, light brown, with a faint pleasant odor.
Plates. There are no records as such.
Variability. The color of the cap varies from light brown and yellow-brown to dark brown.
Similar species. The common morel is round in color and the nature of the surface of the cap is similar to the conical morel (Morchella conica), which is distinguished by a pointed conical or candle-like shape.
Cooking methods: mushrooms are fried, boiled, canned, dried.
Edible, 3rd category.
Morel semi-free
Habitats of the morel (Morchella semilibera): in deciduous and mixed forests, next to roads and forest paths, they grow in groups or singly.
When semi-free morels are harvested: April-May.
The hat has a diameter of 3-6 cm and a height of up to 8 cm. A distinctive feature of the species is an unattached honeycomb cap with the lower part or a rim to the leg, as well as a long and thick whitish-yellowish stem. The surface of the cap is cellular with depressions and projections.
The leg has a height of 5-10 cm, 15-40 mm thick, hollow inside, white or yellowish, creamy, with a mealy surface. The leg expands at the base.
Pulp: whitish, with a faint pleasant odor.
Plates. The leg in the upper part immediately passes into the cap, so there are no plates as such.
Variability. The color of the cap changes from light brown, later to dark brown.
Similar species. Morel semi-free looks like a morel cap mushroom (Verpa conica), but it is distinguished by the small size of a dark brown wrinkled rather than a honeycomb cap.
Cooking methods: mushrooms are fried, boiled, canned, dried.
See what semi-free morel mushrooms look like:
