Morel Mushroom Pics

[CANNACO-OP]

Did not have a stellar year finding morels, but found a couple this spring. Anyone got any good stories................. or pics ???????

 

[quadracer]

It was a great morel season this year from last years wild fires. Multiple burn site producing pounds and pounds of morels. Mmm

 

[quadracer]

Here's some actually growing:

There's a shitload of morels in the first picture. They are hard to see on such a low resolution but also gives you an idea of how hard they are to see in real life. I would lose some even when I knew where they were.

 

[lordbudly]

heres my story, dang things grow wild in my yard and i hate em!

 

[CANNACO-OP]

I never seem to have my camera when out in the field.

Here is a pic of the largest I found this year.



mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... a meal by itself but this one we ate with some steaks

 

[79towncar]

Wow great pitures everybody.. I have got to get some pictures up of the truffles my family picks in Italy.. Where did yous pick those at?? What region I mean..

 

[lordbudly]

Ive never eaten any mushrooms that werent picked by professionals (ie in stores) and never eaten them on anything except prepared by professionals, have any of you smelled one of those things once it stops growing in your yard and it starts to rot and flys surround it? I HAVE!

 

[CANNACO-OP]

we are in midwest usa

morels are about the only thing that come up in the spring by us as far as shrooms go, and very easy to identify.

We got about 3 types of these we find and then about another 10 or so different kinds we collect through out the year.

Will dig up some pics of the "Hens Nest" freakin de-lish-us

 

[quadracer]

heres my story, dang things grow wild in my yard and i hate em!

You can always send them to me

 

[SpacedCWBY]

Morels are the whip - they were like a staple in my diet growing up along with venison and fresh fish.

We used to find the things the size of 20oz pop bottles when I was just a little guy some 30 years ago or so. They aren't as big and not nearly as abundant anymore though. I was reading on shroomery last night about people having some limited success in growing them from spores. I'd really like to try that.

We also used to get ones that we called beef steaks - you'd find the damn things sometimes and they'd be bigger than the fry pan. They were an orangish-brown color with a cream colored stem. Had that brain look to them, really gnarlly looking shrooms - absolutely delicious. Really seemed to find a lot where the hardwoods and cedars came together. Then something was said on the news about them causing heart disease and we quit picking them. Dad kept drinking a case of old millwaukee a day, but dropped the scrumptious mushrooms. I'd love to come across a way to grow those indoors.

Thanks for the pics, even if this thread is a few months old.

 

[SpacedCWBY]

Here's one. Site says poisonous - I'm still here. Maybe it's what caused me to question authority and think for myself and shun conformity and all that other jazz.

 

[ganjapool]

by shun conformity you mean eat mushrooms that are listed as poisonous?

 

[SpacedCWBY]

he he he... something like that. Just did a little reading - can be deadly poisonous because of some f'd up jet fuel chemical or something like that. We used to fry the damn things right up in butter next to the morels - guessing that the poisoning is rare.

 

[CANNACO-OP]

Here's one. Site says poisonous - I'm still here. Maybe it's what caused me to question authority and think for myself and shun conformity and all that other jazz.

Nice pic, cut it in 1/2 down the middle, or did ya eat it?

I have saw some pretty ugly looking morels before. My buddy had one that was very thin walled and like the size and shape of a latex ballon.

 

[quadracer]

Here's one. Site says poisonous - I'm still here. Maybe it's what caused me to question authority and think for myself and shun conformity and all that other jazz.

Looks like a False Morel, Gyromitra esculenta.

Commonly known as the Brain Mushroom because of its much wrinkled, typically reddish-brown cap, Gyromitra esculenta is one of the more distinctive members of the "False Morel" group. Nonetheless, it is sometimes confused with morels (Morchella spp.) The latter are easily distinguished by their longitudinally ridged, pitted caps. Although the species name suggests edibility, Gyromitra esculenta is a questionable choice for the table as it contains monomethylhydrazine (MMH), a volatile toxin which in high doses can be fatal. Anecdotal evidence and preliminary tests by Duffy and Vergeer suggest that California material may not contain high levels of MMH, but caution is still advised. Although we cannot recommend eating this mushroom, it is commonly consumned in the Western United states. If you do try Gyromitra esculenta, it should always be cooked in a well ventilated area to avoid breathing any monomethylhydrazine that might be present and the cooking liquid should be discarded.

Other California Gyromitras include: Gyromitra infula, Gyromitra montana, and Gyromitra californica. Gyromitra infula has a distinctive saddle-shaped cap, the surface of which is wavy to bumpy, but not wrinkled. Gyromitra montana (Snow Mushroom), until recently known locally as G. gigas, is largely a Sierran species. It is shorter, stockier than G. esculenta with a coarsely wrinkled cap only slightly broader than the stipe. Least likely to be encountered is another Sierran species, Gyromitra californica. A beautiful fungus, it has a broad, brown to olive-brown, wavy cap, the margin of which is usually free, and a fluted, cream-yellow, often tinged pinkish stipe.

 

[CANNACO-OP]

that is why i asked if ya sliced it down the middle, I think it will look different then a true morel