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Smoky Mountains April 1 Trip


SirFisher

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Hello,

New guy here and sorry if this post is in the wrong place or is in general "wrong" on this forum.  I'm going to be hiking for 8 days in the Great Smoky National Park the end of this month and into the first few days of April.  I have read that Morels will be in season so I hope to find some of them to try.  I am 99% sure I've seen them before in areas around Tulip Trees so I plan to do some hunting when I see tall stands of them.  I understand that there are look alike ones that are poisonous that don't have hollow stems and the cap is not formed as low on the stem.  What other things can help me distinguish the edible vs. a potential dangerous one?  

Are there any other mushrooms that are edible that would be popping up during that time-frame?  I've focused on edible plants over the years and know what to look for but the mushroom hunting for me is new.  Only thing I've harvested and eaten on a trip was my last trip when I found a really nice Chicken of the Woods (pardon if that is a wrong name but I've seen it called that).

Hoping to learn here and hoping to get some good tips for my upcoming trip.

Thank you,

The New Guy

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Sounds great, I love that park! That is definitely a good area for mushroom hunting, although 'm not sure about the dates in terms of morels, might be early? But might be right on. Yeah a lot of people warn about Verpa Bohemica, which it sounds like you are already aware of. Most other false morels are significantly different from true morels so as long as you do due diligence you should be alright, of course like I said, due diligence. I usually find my first chickens a little after morel season, but there are Dryad Saddles around and oyster mushrooms, also you may find wood ears. I've never tried Deer Mushrooms but they may also be around, gilled so probably not a good choice for beginners and most people rate them as ok at best. I'm sure there's others but that's what comes to mind. Of course you would be aware of ramp and fiddleheads which tend to align with morel season. There are some brilliant folks on this forum, endlessly willing to help out so definitely toss anything up here that you are curious about. 

Edit: If you are new to oyster mushrooms- there is a lot of buzz about a similar species commonly referred to as angel wings, p. porrigens which has been connected to poisonings mostly in Japan if I'm not mistaken. People eat them, personally I avoid them since there's enough alternatives out there that I see no reason to mess around. 

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Brendan,  Thanks for the note!  I'll do some research on Dryad Saddles and Oyster Mushrooms to ensure I know what to look for (and not poison myself!)  Being in the woods 8 days I can't afford to screw up so I would be following the rule of tossing what I am not 100% sure of.  Hoping to find some ramps for sure but it could be a bit early.  There are some "early season" areas in the park where things pop up sooner than other areas so I may get lucky.

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First week of April may be a good time to look for morels in the hills of NC. Not sure when the best part of the season is down that way. But I'd guess that perhaps both back morels (Morchella angusticpeps) and the yellow/gray/white types (M. americana, M. diminutiva) may be available at that time. It depends upon the weather; too cold and it may be too early; too warm, and the season may be winding down. Forests with large tulip poplar trees are a good bet.

There are warnings about eating Verpa (V. bohemica and V. conica). Each if these species has a cap that attaches only to the very apex of the stalk, and usually the stalk has some white pithy "stuffing" inside it. But, the stuffing disintegrates as the Verpa mushroom ages past maturity. These may make you sick, especially if they're not cooked well enough.

The Gyromitra species of "false morels" are a bigger concern than Verpa. These types can cause serious illness. G. esculenta, G. brunnea, G. caroliniana, G. korfii are the main species here in eastern NA. Some people eat Gyromitra --after thorough cooking. I do not recommend eating these types. When raw or under-cooked, they contain a dangerous toxin. There are stories about people becoming ill from inhaling the fumes while cooking Gyromitra. The caps of Gyromitra are more glob-like or brain-like than true morels. The stalks of Gyromitra are composed of internal chambers rather than a single hollow cavity. 

Pleurotus species (True Oyster Mushrooms) start up in spring, usually on true poplar/aspen. Angel Wings --Pleurocybella porrigens-- grow on wood of coniferous trees. These are mainly a late summer or fall species. 

 

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Thank you for all of the details!  The Verpa species do look a lot like Morels but I understand the difference in the cap structure combined with the inside pith makes it easy to distinguish them.  Looks like the cap is different as well where the true morels look more like a honeycomb.  I took a look at some images of the Gyromita species.  They definitely have a different look about them so I should be all set.  

On the Pleurotus, if it isn't on a Poplar I'll just pass on it.😉

I can't really go too crazy with gathering anyway.  Not supposed to harvest in the National Forest so I won't try but a few if I see them.  Most of the camp sites in the park are centered around huge Poplar stands so if they are out, they will be close to camp.  

Hoping to have Fried Trout and Morels on a bed of sauteed cress, violets, chickweed and nettle before the trip is up.

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Gourmet campsite menu!

There is one type of morel that looks like Verpa, Morchella punctipes. This species used to called Morchella semilibera (a European species name). The cap is connected to the stem roughly half-way between the bottom and top of the inside of the cap. Some years this type is plentiful in some eastern NA hardwood forests. Other years... you hardy see any. 

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It may be a bit early for the yellow morels, but you may find black morels under the Tulip Poplars, or Ash trees if you can find any that haven't been almost killed by the Emerald Ash Borer.  It was originally thought the borer killed the Ash completely but many have new growth coming from near the base of the otherwise dead looking tree. Although there may be other edibles such as the deer (fawn ) mushroom the only mushrooms I'd eat are the true morels. We've hunted the Shenandoah park near Luray  and Front Royal VA.  for over 30 years an morels are about the only good edible fruitng in the spring. I also do a bit of morel hunting in SC but that's a completely different type of habitat which is very limited and now hunted hard.

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my best advice is to stay with very easy recognizable species your first year picking. Morels and oysters are quite easy to identify so that's a good start. Don't sweat the morel IDing, once you find a couple you will find they are pretty distinctive from their look a likes. Oysters, have some very key identifiers and if you stick to only poplar you need not worry about angel wings. Good luck!!

If in your travels you find mushrooms that you don't know what they are, take pictures and post them up here, we can try help you identify them. Just don't mix unknown mushrooms with your table bounty.

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