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Morel I.D. Just making sure this is a good one


Ragnor

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Hello, I found morels growing in my field today. The is a different pheno than I have ever seen before so I thought it best to ask before eating them.

I have never seen them with the wavy granulated stem before. Most that I find here like more like clam necks.

I'll post pics of the ones I found under the cotton woods yesterday in another thread.

This morel is growing in an open field in western washington.

Looks to be a patch of about 20 with new ones forming.

also should I be selective in harvesting them? I don't want to pick them out.

post-669-0-96714900-1397168631_thumb.jpg

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Ragnor, you can't over-pick morels, or any other mushroom for that matter. What you see is just the fruiting body of a fungus that lives entirely underground. Picking the mushroom doesn't have any affect on the fungus. However, it can be damaged by excessive trampling or disturbance of the ground that it lives in.

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I do not know, but I would think that you can overharvest mushrooms. If you pick everything you see and the mushrooms do not have a chance to send out their spores, the mushrooms will be less likely to reproduce and grow no more mushrooms. I am not sure, but I think overharvesting could eventually lead to ecological problems for the fungus.

Does anyone else have any input?

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Harvesting mushrooms does not affect the particular fungal plant that has produced those mushrooms. But I think the "future generations" issue is at least somewhat of an open question. It may be a good idea to leave young buttons where they are so that they may mature and produce spores. But harvesting mature mushrooms may actually help to spread the potential for new growth, because the harvested mushrooms are likely to continue to produce spores while they are being transported. In the midwest, morel collectors often use mesh "gunny-sacks" to carry the mushrooms in hopes that spores are spread as they walk from spot to spot through the woods. Perhaps some morel mushrooms are the result of recently-germinated spores. But I think it's more likely that most morels are associated with a fungal plant that has been in existence for years, possibly many years. My understanding is the eco-role of Morchella as a mycorrhizal partner, a saprobe, or maybe even a parasite under certain conditions, is a topic of current research.

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On the subject of overharvesting.

Yeah I have never really been clear on that. I know one problem that we have here is when people are "raking" for masitaki "matsutake" obviously that is going to damage the mycilium network. I can see how that would be a problem.

I have always made a point to only take choice mushrooms when harvesting. I always make sure to leave a couple even if a patch of chantrelles or whatever is all choice. I just feel like it's a good idea to make sure some spore bearing bodies are left in the area. I learned of the mesh bags from some city slickers and I think they are a fine idea. We always just used bread sacks or grocery bags. The mesh sacks also have the added benefit of not creating a moist enviroment where some mushrooms tend to become slimey.

I'm just one of those "never take more than you need" kind of guys. That seams to be more and more important as time goes on. Not just with mushrooms but all wild foods.

Aside from my "superstitions" knowing the real biology behind things is also a big help in making good choices.

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Reading this topic with much interest. I wonder if our tendency to pick the best specimens and leave a few "runts" has the same genetic effect on future generations of mushrooms as it would if we used the same practice on seed plants or meat animals?

Gunny sacks" are rare as hens teeth around here. Until I can come up with one I intend to use large mesh bags that grapefruit is sold in but have some little concern for their raspy nature.

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The texture of the bag used to carry mushrooms around may tend to scrape them. I like my dried morels to retain their visual appeal. So, in the field I carry them like this... sort by species and/or quality into sandwich-sized paper bags which are carried together inside a large grocery-sized paper bag or a canvas bag with handles. For the canvas bag, I line the bag-bottom with a piece of sturdy cardboard so that the smaller bags do not squeeze together.. I allow the tops of the smaller paper bags to remain open so that air may flow. This prevents moisture build-up. I never carry any mushrooms in plastic bags. They sweat like this.

I figure that the couple of hours during which I am carrying mushrooms around the woods is not enough time to account for a release of a large amount of spores. My dehydrator uses plastic trays, and spores tend to collect on the trays. I wash them off with water that I spread into areas where I believe the contributing species may flourish. For instance, if I wash off morel spores than I dump the water near my old apple trees. Xanthoconium separans spores are spread near oak or hickory. Boletus edulis spores near spruce. Blewit spores onto the compost heap, or the leaf pile. Aside from Blewits --a quick developing saprobe-- I have not witnessed any success. But it may take years for some fungi to develop to the point where mushrooms are produced. All of this is very hypothetical.

Hunter, I think that leaving the "runts" has little effect upon future fungal generations. Within a given mushroom patch, it is likely that the mushrooms are all growing from one fungal plant. Presumably, the spores from individual mushrooms all carry the same genetic info.

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If you look at my avatar, you will see what I use for morels. It is an old wicker fishing creel. For most morels, I just have to drop them through the hole in the top. It works great. The huge conjoined twin lobster mushroom shown did not fit too well. That was one huge lobster!

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Dave, I had not thought that issue through about leaving the runts. All modern cultivated plants and animals have been improved by selecting for the best expression of genes, which was my point, but you're correct that the fruitings of any colony of a mushroom is expressing the same gene set. The only exception would be if the runt was a sport, rare and something one could not account for without harvesting it. Thanks again for the help.

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