Key Features
These distinctive fungi have a honeycomb appearance due to the network of ridges with pits composing their caps. The mushroom when cut in half are hollow and free from any cottony pith filling. Another key feature of the morchella elata is the cap is joined to the stalk along it's full length.
Spore Print
print is creamy white or pale cream.
Cap
3 to 8-cm in diameter and 6 to 8-cm tall; stems of Morchella elata are 1 to 3-cm diameter and 4 to 10-cm tall. The hollow conical or egg-shaped cap of this popular edible species is deeply pitted, rather like an irregular honeycomb. Within the pits the surface varies from pale brown to grey and darkens with age. The vertical ridges are continuous and for the most part fairly well aligned, while the more randomly spaced horizontal ridges that run between pairs of vertical ridges are noticeably narrower.
Stem
Smooth at the top but usually grooved near the base, the stem of Morchella elata has just one hollow chamber.
Habitat
The morchella elata species form symbiotic or endophytic relationships with trees. Morels are often found in coniferous forests, including species of Pinus (pine), Abies (fir), Larix (larch), and Pseudotsuga (Douglas-fir), as well as in Populus (cottonwood) riparian forests. Deciduous trees commonly associated with morels in the northern hemisphere include Fraxinus (ash), Platanus (sycamore), Liriodendron (tulip tree), dead and dying elms, cottonwoods and old apple trees (remnants of orchards).
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