#034: Mushroom Morphology: False Morels

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10 Responses

  1. October 17, 2016

    […] morels and poisonous false morels.  Don’t worry; it’s really not as hard as it sounds.  See FFF#034 for more on false […]

  2. October 17, 2016

    […] These odd-looking ascomycete mushrooms are all found in the genus Helvella. The mushrooms have a smooth to highly wrinkled stipe and a head that is cup-shaped to saddle-shaped to lobed to irregular.  Some elfin saddles have a small stipe and look like large cup mushrooms but have ribs that extend up the stipe and onto the base of the cup.  Other elfin saddles with cup-shaped heads have long stipes but are smooth.  There are also some with heads that really do look like a saddle for a horse.  Elvin saddles with lobed or irregular heads often have large, fluted (wrinkled to grooved) stipes.  Sometimes the stipes are so deeply grooved that there are holes going completely through the stipe.  I like to think of these mushrooms as mushroom ghosts.  To me, they look like shriveled-up, ghost versions of false morels.  Most elfin saddles come in various shades of brown, but there are also a few that are black.  More highly-colored mushrooms that look like elfin saddles are probably in the in the genus Gyromitra (false morels). […]

  3. November 7, 2016

    […] Next story #034: Mushroom Morphology: False Morels […]

  4. March 30, 2018

    […] “Carolina False Morel,” or – my personal favorite – “Big Red,” is a false morel (see FFF#034) that can grow to astounding sizes. It has a reddish-brown cap that is tightly wrinkled, making it […]

  5. April 27, 2019

    […] morels (FFF#034) are typically brownish and have less well-defined ridges.  These should be easy to distinguish, […]

  6. May 25, 2020

    […] are also somewhat similar to false morels (FFF#034) and elfin saddles (FFF#035), which also have caps that attach only to the top of the stipe. […]

  7. May 25, 2020

    […] Although they are irregular, the ridges and pits are well-defined, unlike most false morels (FFF#034), which have smaller “ridges” that are more like wrinkles.  Additionally, morels have a single […]

  8. May 25, 2020

    […] you just can’t figure out which species yours is, it’s OK.  There are also a few false morels (FFF#0344) and verpas (FFF#067) that beginners can confuse with Yellow Morels.  These can easily be […]

  9. May 25, 2020

    […] are a number of morel look-alikes, including verpas (FFF#067) and false morels (FFF#034).  Verpas are closely related to morels and look very similar to morels.  The distinguishing […]

  10. May 30, 2020

    […] brunnea is a false morel (see FFF#034) that is fairly common in the eastern and midwestern parts of North America. Like the other false […]

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