Gyromitra esculenta - The False Morel

[Leif]

If you're out in Pine woods keep your eyes open for False Morels. I saw~40 this Saturday in the Surrey area. These look like small brown brains on white stalks. They grow on the ground among Pine debris. Height ~4". Deadly poisonous so best not eaten.

It'll soon be the real Morel season too.

[cjay]

This afternoon I found a considerable troop of Morels growing on woodchips in the front garden of a dwelling in St Peters Street Lowestoft I could not get a good look at them but suppose them to be Morchella vulgaris. But they could be M. elata the fruiting bodies seem very black. They are well over & I do not know wheather they will re appear next year. I tried to speak to the owners of the garden but there was no reply.

[Leif]

This afternoon I found a considerable troop of Morels growing on woodchips in the front garden of a dwelling in St Peters Street Lowestoft I could not get a good look at them but suppose them to be Morchella vulgaris. But they could be M. elata the fruiting bodies seem very black. They are well over & I do not know wheather they will re appear next year. I tried to speak to the owners of the garden but there was no reply.

It seems very early for true morels! I guess I had better get out and look for some then.

I once found huge numbers of very large - 6" tall - black morels. The problem was they were in flower beds in the grounds of the Nestle factory in Hayes. The security guards gave me a very odd look and would not let me in. Fortunately I managed to snatch a few through the wire fence, and very tasty they were too!

[Leif]

And here's a picture of a poisonous False Morel:

[scampo]

"...best not eaten". Do I detecty irony? Lovely photo, Leif!

[Leif]

"...best not eaten". Do I detecty irony? Lovely photo, Leif!

Thanks for the comment. Yes you do detect irony.

Interestingly enough I believe that False Morels were eaten in Poland and other Eastern European countries until quite recently. I think it is now illegal to sell them. The toxin is - quite literally - rocket fuel, and is highly volatile. Hence people would dry them, or boil them to remove most of the toxin. Even then deaths would occur, possibly through a cumulative build up over many years of consumption.

[Michael Frankis]

And here's a picture of a poisonous False Morel:
Next to an old Scots Pine cone ;)

Michael

[very boring banned member]

Interestingly enough I believe that False Morels were eaten in Poland and other Eastern European countries until quite recently. I think it is now illegal to sell them. The toxin is - quite literally - rocket fuel, and is highly volatile. Hence people would dry them, or boil them to remove most of the toxin. Even then deaths would occur, possibly through a cumulative build up over many years of consumption.
They're still a specialty here. I guess selling them was lately banned here due to tourists, who did not know how to remove those toxins. I've tried once, and look how I am now :D You have to cook them several times in order to avoid headache - and they do not even taste specially yummy. Often have plenty of sand in them, too.

[Leif]

This afternoon I found a considerable troop of Morels growing on woodchips in the front garden of a dwelling in St Peters Street Lowestoft I could not get a good look at them but suppose them to be Morchella vulgaris. But they could be M. elata the fruiting bodies seem very black. They are well over & I do not know wheather they will re appear next year. I tried to speak to the owners of the garden but there was no reply.

BTW Colin, do you often find Morels, and if so what kind of habitat? I find the odd M. elata in Pine woods, and the odd M. esculenta on chalky ground, though not for a few years. Seems they are quite rare!

[Leif]

They're still a specialty here. I guess selling them was lately banned here due to tourists, who did not know how to remove those toxins. I've tried once, and look how I am now :D You have to cook them several times in order to avoid headache - and they do not even taste specially yummy. Often have plenty of sand in them, too.

That's the last time I eat mushroom soup in Finland!!!

I hear you Fins also preserve in salt many Milk Caps what we would consider inedible due to bitterness?

[cjay]

Morrels are rather rare in Suffolk & I have only verified rare varieties found in potting compost. Only Morchella esculenta is on the BMS database. I have verified M. elata from Wood chips & M.semi libra which has also been found in west Suffolk. In Transactions of Suffok Natural History 36 (2000) P. 62 there is un updated paper on the morrels in Suffolk. As it is a spring fungus it is probably overlooked.

CJ

[John Larman]

I HAVE EATEN THEM FOR YEARS and I am still here to prove it, of course I have always air dried them first and cooked them and thrown away the water 2/3 times and they are really delicious. Both types, the dark brown and the ginger tops are edible if treated in this manner, but throw away the stipes and wash out the sand to make the best meal.

Good hunting

[scampo]

Good for you, John. Lovely to hear from someone not downtrodden and in tow to the supermarkets!

[Leif]

I HAVE EATEN THEM FOR YEARS and I am still here to prove it, of course I have always air dried them first and cooked them and thrown away the water 2/3 times and they are really delicious. Both types, the dark brown and the ginger tops are edible if treated in this manner, but throw away the stipes and wash out the sand to make the best meal.

Good hunting

John: I believe the sale was banned in Eastern Europe on health grounds. Denis Benjamin in his book on mushroom toxins quotes evidence that suggests the toxins are cumulative. So someone could eat them for years and then all of a sudden suffer illness. Certainly death ensues if they are not prepared as you state. I would recommend you check out Mushrooms Poisons and Panaceas by Denis R. Benjamin.