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Morchella elata?


BotanyBoy

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Hello from the land of the rising sun!  I have a question for all you experts.  I live in southern Japan and every March I get Morchella growing in my garden.  I have tentatively IDed them as M. elata, but I'm not sure.  Please have a look and let me know what you all think.  Importantly, these should be edible, yes?  All the people here I show these to say they have no knowledge of them being eaten, which is crazy given how much folks love them throughout the world.  I should mention I am an American who collected morels in the woods of New York as a child.  Thanks!

Morcella.jpg

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What is seen in the photo is some type of "Black Morel". I don't know the exact species names for ones that occur in Japan. Morchella elata is a species name that had been applied to at least one North American taxon for a number of years. DNA analysis has revealed that at least several different species of Black Morel occur globally. I'm not sure if any of these species currently go by the name "elata". The most common eastern NA Black Morel is now called M. angusticeps. In western NA there's M. brunnea and M. importuna, among others. The Black Morels that occur in burnt pine forests are also different species. 

All true morels are edible IF WELL COOKED. Raw morels are mildly toxic, although some individuals may be affected to the point where a trip to the ER is in order. Black Morels --like all morels-- may be dehydrated and stored for future use. But, the mushroom should be completely dehydrated, to the point where it is brittle, like a potato chip. 

The photo shows two aspects of true morels. 1. the interior of the mushroom consists of a single hollow chamber and there isn't any material ("stuffing") inside the chamber. 2. Virtually the entire cap is attached to the stalk. Only a very short "lip" is seen as the lowest part of the cap draped freely around the stalk.

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Your proposal seems like a good possibility. Definitely one of the morel species, and definitely edible. Very nice pics. Interesting that the Japanese don't eat them. Probably a mushroom that they don't see often. I have heard that after Nagasaki and Hiroshima that wild mushroom harvesting, obviously, wasn't recommended because of mushrooms being such sponges of contamination. Perhaps, the unfamiliarity of the morel is more a symptom of a couple generations losing some of their mushroom picking skills.

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These morels look a lot like Morchella importuna, which is a morel found in a North American west coast landscape environment.  Take a look at Michael Kuo's description at:  http://www.mushroomexpert.com/morchella_importuna.html .  I've also read that M. importuna often grows in bunches; so if you're finding them as groups in landscape mulch, this, or a similar species, is likely.

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Thanks for all the input.  I am surprised at the dearth of information about this genus in Japan considering they are apparently found throughout the entire archipelago.   I suspect many of the names I'm seeing here (esculenta, costata, patula, vulgaris) may not be valid.  I especially appreciate the information about M. importuna (thanks vitog!) given these are growing in a garden setting and I've not seen any in the woodlands around here which are largely broad leaf evergreen forests typical of SE Asia. 

I think I'm going to give them a try - I've only got a handful though!

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