Best Time And Area To Find Morel Mushrooms (Hunting Guide)

About when and where to collect the main spring mushroom gift Mushroom Morel. How not to confuse it with a poisonous line during a quiet hunt. We’ll tell you about the best time to find morel mushrooms and features of different types of morels, places, and terms of their habitat.

The most important of the young spring mushrooms are morels. It is they who, first of all, fill the baskets of happy spring mushroom hunters.

best time and area to find morel mushrooms

how to recognize morel mushrooms?

In nature, there are several types of Morels, but they are similar to each other and have common features, knowing which, it is impossible to confuse the species with other mushrooms. Consider the description:

  • The hat is ovoid, sometimes spherical, 3-5 cm in diameter, and 3-6 cm high. Hollow inside.
  • The edges of the cap adhere to the stem.
  • The color of the hat is different: yellow-brown, shades of brown, sometimes gray.
  • The hat on the surface consists of cells that are irregular in shape and diverge with uneven edges.
  • The leg is high and fragile, cylindrical in shape, expanding towards the base, diameter 1.5-2 cm, and length up to 7 cm. Empty inside, white or brown.
  • The surface of the leg can be smooth or covered with longitudinal grooves.
  • The weight of large morels reaches 500 g, and the flesh is fragile, thin, and looks like wax.

After picking morel mushrooms next step is top find Best Way To Store Morel Mushrooms.

best time and area to find morel mushrooms

Depending on the climate and growing area, Morel weather can be found from mid-April. In spring, watery mushrooms that do not have a rich aroma are most common. Therefore, the answer to the question, the best time to find morel mushrooms, and the best area to find morel mushrooms, is simply the end of spring (May).

During this period, morels (Morchella) increased in size and quantity, mushrooms become dense and strong, and the search for them is simplified. Important detail morels begin to exude a peculiar and pleasant fruity aroma. At the beginning of summer, the mushrooms mostly disappear, but sometimes they still appear.

You need to know where morels grow. They are found mainly in groups on the edges of the forest and in thickets, on the slopes of ravines and glades, and in bushes. Morels does not disdain to grow in places of fires and within the city – these are parks and squares.

It is possible to collect these mushrooms even on the green continent in Australia. The conical morel grows in the mountains at an altitude of 2500 m above sea level. In the Tien Shan, these mushrooms are found in mountain coniferous forests. Morels mushroom also grows in the USA, where it is expensive and in demand.

Let’s discuss the best time and area to find morel mushrooms depending on different species.

Time and area to find Yellow morel (Morchella Esculenta)

morchella esculenta

The morel grows from mid-April to mid-June. This fungus is very fond of light and lime-rich soil, found in deciduous, mixed, and less often coniferous forests. It likes to grow in park areas under aspen, alder, and poplars, on lawns and forest edges, on clearings and clearings, near lying trees, along the banks of small streams, and along ditches. Can be found in apple orchards. He also likes to grow in places of forest fires and artificial clearings. Most often it grows singly, but sometimes it is found in groups. It grows even on lawns and in front gardens.

Attention! Due to the color of the cap, the morel is often difficult to spot among last year’s grass and foliage – look carefully under your feet during a quiet hunt.

read article about Are Morel Mushrooms Good For You?

true morels (Morchella conica)

morchella conica

this is one of the very first spring mushrooms you can search for it from mid-April. It is much less common than the Edible Morel, and among mushroom pickers, it is considered a special success to meet it.

Grows from mid-April to early June. This fungus loves wet, swampy places, but also bears fruit well on sandy soils, in mixed or coniferous forests, in clearings and edges. He especially likes to settle near ash trees, and where there are aspen forests and alder deadwood. Often found in places where the soil surface is damaged – on the slopes of ditches and ravines, along roads, on old fires and among abandoned ruins.

black morels (Morchella elata)

morchella elata

The tallest and most stately in the morel family, it stretches up to 30 cm. But it is also one of the rarest, meeting it is a special success for a mushroom picker.

It grows from mid-April to early June in coniferous and deciduous forests, in glades, and on forest edges. Often found in quiet corners of gardens or orchards. It is found even at a height in the mountains.

half-free morel (Morchella semilibera)

morchella semilibera

Another rare representative of the morel family, even listed in the Red Book in Poland.

Grows from May to June in parks, gardens, and groves among last year’s leaves and tall grass often appears in the company of fresh nettle shoots. Among trees, it prefers aspens with lindens but can be found under oak or birch.

Morchella Crassipes

The heftiest and weighty representative of the morel family. It is extremely rare and unlikely – you will ever come across it in the forest, but it is impossible not to mention it.

It is found infrequently, growing in groups of 2-3 pieces in Central, Western Europe, and North America in April-May. This fungus especially likes soil rich in humus and often grows where there is a lot of moss. It occurs in deciduous forests, among trees it prefers ash, hornbeam, and poplar. if you picked some ouster mushroom then must read out ways to Store Oyster Mushroom.

morel of the steppes (Morchella Steppicola)

Another mushroom is a big one, although not as heavy as the previous one. As the name implies, it grows in the steppe zone among thickets of wild steppe grass.

From April to June in the sagebrush steppes of the southern regions of Russia and Central Asia.

early morel (Verpa bohemica)

A relative of true morels, although it belongs to a different genus. Inferior in taste to real morels, but also appreciated among mushroom pickers. It is also called “Cap”, “Verpa Czech” and “Early Morel”.

This mushroom bears fruit only from the very end of April and in the first half of May, so hunting for it is especially exciting you need to have time to catch it. He loves dampness very much and does not tolerate the lack of moisture, therefore it grows on flooded soil, in light deciduous and mixed forests, next to aspens, lindens, and birches. Look for it in the lowlands near ditches and water holes. A lucky mushroom picker can expect a gift – caps sometimes grow in a huge herd of up to 80 pieces.

Conclusion

When you are going morel mushroom hunting, you should be careful and must note the best time and area to find morel mushrooms. Do not put in the basket and eat suspicious or unfamiliar mushrooms.