Morchella esculenta
A prized edible fungus with a honeycomb cap.
Morchella esculenta—also called the common morel, yellow morel, true morel, or sponge morel—is a fungus belonging to the Morchellaceae family within the Ascomycota. It is among the most easily recognized edible mushrooms and is heavily collected. Its fruit bodies appear in spring for a brief window beneath hardwoods and conifers.
The fruit body starts as a tight, grayish sponge with lighter ridges, then grows into a large yellowish sponge featuring broad pits and ridges atop a white stem. The pitted, yellow-brown cap measures 2–7 cm wide and 2–10 cm tall, fused to the stem at its lower edge, forming a continuous hollow. The pits are rounded and irregular. The hollow stem is typically 2–9 cm long and 2–5 cm thick, white to yellow in color.
Carl Linnaeus originally named the fungus *Phallus esculentus* in the second edition of Species Plantarum (1763), and Christiaan Hendrik Persoon gave it its current name in 1801. Common names include morel, common morel, true morel, yellow morel, sponge morel, Molly Moocher, haystack, and dryland fish; in Nepal it is called Guchi chyau. The species epithet *esculenta* comes from Latin, meaning "edible." For years, the name *Morchella esculenta* was applied to many similar yellow morels worldwide, but in 2014 Richard and colleagues used DNA analysis to restrict it to a single species common in Europe; reports from China have been misapplied to other species. Other yellow morels, including those in North America, received new scientific names.
The cap is pale brownish cream, yellow, tan, or pale brown to grayish brown. Ridge edges are usually lighter than the pits, somewhat oval in outline, and sometimes bluntly cone-shaped with a rounded top or more elongated. Caps are hollow, attached to the stem at the lower edge, and about 2–7 cm wide by 2–10 cm tall. The flesh is brittle. The stem is white to pallid or pale yellow, hollow, straight or club-shaped with a bulbous base, finely granular, somewhat ridged, generally 2–9 cm long by 2–5 cm thick. In age, brownish stains may appear near the base.
Fruit bodies have been grown in the lab. R. Ower first described their developmental stages in a controlled chamber, followed by detailed cytological studies by Thomas Volk and Leonard (1989, 1990). They studied the morel life cycle by observing ascoma development alongside tuberous begonias (*Begonia tuberhybrida*), from tiny primor
- first_named
- Phallus esculentus by Carl Linnaeus (1763)
Lore & Background
The fungus was originally named Phallus esculentus by Carl Linnaeus in the second edition of Species Plantarum (1763) and given its current name by mycologist Christiaan Hendrik Persoon in 1801. The specific epithet esculenta is Latin for 'edible.' The scientific name has been applied to many similar yellow morels worldwide, but DNA analysis in 2014 restricted M. esculenta to a single species common in Europe; reports from China have been misapplied to other species. Other yellow morels, including those in North America, received new names.
Each fruit body begins as a tightly compressed, grayish sponge with lighter ridges and expands into a la
Reader's Guide
Morchella esculenta holds a significant place in mycology and culinary history as one of the most recognizable and sought-after edible mushrooms. Its distinctive honeycomb cap and hollow stem make it readily identifiable, though it can be confused with the poisonous Gyromitra esculenta. The species has been cultivated in laboratory settings, with early success by Repin in 1901 using flower pots in a cave, and later methods involving hardwood saplings and potassium hydroxide to mimic post-fire soil conditions. Small-scale commercial growers have used rows of mulched wood inoculated with spores in a water-molasses solution, followed by wood ash water to trigger fruiting. The mushroom's edibility is well known, though raw morels contain a gastrointestinal irritant (hydrazine) that is removed by parboiling or blanching. Old or decaying fruit bodies may be poisonous. Nutritionally, on a dry weight basis, the mushroom contains 32.7% protein. Its ecological role includes association with trees such as pine, elm, tulip, sassafras, beech, ash, sycamore, and hickory, and it sometimes hosts centipedes inside its hollow cap. The species is also gathered in Jammu and Kashmir as a medical remedy under the name Gucchi.
Did You Know?
- The specific epithet 'esculenta' is Latin for 'edible'.
- DNA analysis in 2014 restricted the name Morchella esculenta to a single species common in Europe and also reported from China.
- The mushroom is sometimes called the 'May mushroom' in North America due to its consistent fruiting in that month.
- Centipedes sometimes make their home inside morels, leaving a hole in the top.
More in Fungi And Fungus-Like Organisms 1-24
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