When to collect morels. Morel mushrooms - where and at what time to collect, description and photo How to distinguish morel mushrooms from false ones

The edible black morel mushroom has fragile fruiting bodies 5-12 cm high, 4-7 cm wide. Cellular conical, ovoid or pear-shaped cap, occupying 2/3 of the mushroom in height, dark brown or black with light brown cells. The leg is hollow, fragile, white with a granular surface. The pulp is fragile, not bitter and not pungent. There is no milky juice.

Look at the edible morel mushrooms in the photo and remember what they look like in order to distinguish them from poisonous species:

Morel mushroom growing in a mixed forest
Edible black morel mushroom

Grows in coniferous and mixed forests. Prefers limestone soil.
Black morel is found in early spring. In central Russia, its fruiting occurs on May 10-20, immediately after the wave of fruiting lines. Black morel is quickly damaged by fungus gnats (“worms”), so you need to have time to collect it immediately after the start of fruiting. Fruits abundantly in pine forests after fires. It grows on or near fire pits.
The black morel has no poisonous counterparts.
No pre-boiling required. It tastes best after cooking for 10 minutes.

Common stitch mushroom (with photo)

The common string mushroom is conditionally edible, its fragile fruiting bodies are 4-12 cm high and wide, hollow with a brown, chestnut or yellow-chestnut cap. The cap is brain-folded, like the inside walnut, irregular in shape with internal cavities in fairly thick pulp. The pulp is light, without bitterness and odorless. The leg is white, sometimes pink, also with cavities.

It grows in deciduous and mixed forests, most often in small ravines and roadside holes.

Look at the photos of line mushrooms of this type - they show the appearance at different periods of development:

Common stitch in mixed forest
Common stitch mushroom

Found from late April to mid-May.

There are no poisonous doubles.

In Russia they eat it. After pre-boiling for 15 minutes and draining, it is boiled in salt water or fried. The smell of boiled lines is mushroom. The taste of the boiled mushroom is good, the consistency is pleasant. In France and Germany, the common string is considered a poisonous mushroom.

Autumn stitch mushroom: photo and description

If you read the description, the autumn stitch mushroom is considered inedible. Fragile fruiting bodies are 6-15 cm high and 4-8 cm wide, hollow with a light brown, dark brown or purple-brown cap. The irregularly shaped cap consists of blades and cavities. The pulp is thin, fragile, light, without bitterness and odorless. The leg is light brown with a finely fleecy surface, also with cavities. The autumn stitching is not damaged by insects.

Look at this mushroom line in the photo and in the description, you should remember it and not try to eat it:

The autumn stitch mushroom grows on stumps overgrown with moss
String mushroom grows in deciduous and mixed forest

Grows in deciduous and mixed forests on destroyed stumps and trunks overgrown with moss or on the ground near them. Autumn stitch is a tree mushroom.

Found from late August until frost.

It has no poisonous counterparts.

The mushroom is considered inedible. However, in Russia they eat it. After pre-boiling for 15 minutes and draining the water, it is boiled in salt water or fried. The smell of boiled lines is mushroom.

Saying that a person looks like a morel most often means that he is short and wrinkled.

Indeed, judging by the photo and description of morel mushrooms, we can conclude that they are unsightly: a low leg with folds, a cap riddled with potholes.

However, you should not judge its taste by the way the morel mushroom looks.

These gifts of the forest are revered in both Russian and European cuisines, and therefore the first impression is very deceptive.

Morel mushroom

Common morel - very famous spring mushroom, found in pine forests and denser deciduous groves, especially abundantly in wet weather, grows alone, mainly in mountainous areas with calcareous or clay soil, so that under these conditions it is sometimes found even in the field. Foresters and shepherds know best where morels grow: especially a lot of these mushrooms grow in camps where coals or ash are burned.

All of Europe, Asia and North America are replete with this species of mushrooms. They say that there have been examples of some mild morel poisoning. But one must think that such an effect occurred from excessive use of these or from eating old mushrooms.

Check out the photo and description of morels and find out how they are eaten:

Photo gallery

The distinctive features of the common morel, which, however, differ little from other species of this breed, consist of: an egg-shaped cap, however, almost round, tightly attached to the stem, blackish or black-brown in color. The length is from 2 to 3.5 cm, the width is from 2 to 4 cm.

Look at the photo of morel mushrooms: the inner surface of the cap looks like it is sprinkled with bran and is so adjacent to the stem that it is difficult to separate it. And between the meat of the upper and lower parts of it, morels always have a void, however, closed at the edges. The surface of the cap is dotted with potholes called mittens, the depth of which sometimes reaches 0.5 cm, always directed from bottom to top. These mittens are sometimes intersected by transverse elevations, mostly curved. All these elevations and depressions have a smooth, even almost glossy surface and are distinguished by gray-black, smoky, or black-brown edges and somewhat yellowish depressions.

Seed sacs edible mushrooms morels are club-shaped and are placed in the recesses of the cap, and the seeds contained in them are oval. The stem of an ordinary morel, 4 cm or more long and 6 cm wide, is always hollow inside and, becoming wider upward, goes deep into the cavity of the cap for almost half its length. There, on the top of its head, it has a horizontal elevation, 0.5 cm wide and located in the center of its upper end. Just like the cap, the stem is dotted with smaller, but irregular, depressions and elevations, which are showered with whitish bran; the color of the stem matches the cap.

The taste of raw morel is watery-bitter. The smell is pleasant, but weak. The consumption of this type of mushroom is very diverse: by crumbling them, raw or dried, into fairly small pieces or grinding them into powder, they prepare soups, or, better said, stews, for which they mix mushroom particles with slices of beef and cook this mixture in water. Morel sauce is prepared as follows: fry them in oil or lard and add to them, at will, flour, broth, pieces of bread, onions, celery, parsley, herring, pepper and other spices, and cook properly. This method of preparation is especially common in Germany, where, as is known, a passion for various kinds of roots, spices and herbs prevails in the taste. Finally, the roast, which is more common here in Russia, is prepared from morels, cleaned from the outside of seed grains and all impurities by thoroughly washing, and from the inside from the stem, which, then crumbled, goes into the filling of the cap, along with finely chopped thick eggs and white bread, in which form morels are fried in a frying pan in fresh oil.

In general, with any method of preparing morels, the stem is not discarded, because it is not inferior in taste to the cap, but its lower part, always more or less clogged with earth, together with the mycelium pulled out with the mushroom in the folds of the stem, should be discarded as weed, and therefore , may damage the taste. In addition, the entire mushroom must be thoroughly washed, because often in the cells of its mittens there are all kinds of blockages, and in older ones there are seed grains that are harmful to health. Finally, morels must certainly be cut or cut lengthwise before being prepared in the kitchen, because snails and others are often placed in the cavities of mushrooms. Exactly the same precautions should be taken with morels if you want to dry them for future use, which requires spreading them out in the sun or in a free-spirited oven, then putting them in a closed container and keeping them in a dry place. Dried morels, keeping for a very long time, can be eaten in all the same forms as fresh ones.

Little has been done in the artificial cultivation of morels, but in France, amateurs have tried to grow their culture in moister soil than that used for champignons, planting there fragments of a mushroom cap, of course, a mature mushroom or its sprouts located in the web of the mycelium, which should be collected in June, at the foot of the mushrooms, or even from those places where morels grew. The London Encyclopedia of Agriculture indicates, but without any details, that it was possible to grow morels from seeds. It seems to us that all these methods of culture can be equally successful, if only the soil is chosen for this not only with the property of moisture, as mentioned above, but with clayey, calcareous soil, under which conditions morels will exclusively be born. Morels are never found on sandy soil, and, therefore, they should not be bred.

Morel mushroom, pin-shaped or long

This type of morel is found in the same areas as the previous one, and is so similar to that species that it does not differ when collected either here or abroad. In the sauce it is more tender and represents a very expensive dish alone, without a mixture with ordinary morels. The pin-shaped morel comes out of the ground a little earlier, and is generally less common than usual. Requiring not only moisture, but even mossy, swampy soil for its growth, this type of morel is found in grass, which is fairly shaded.

In spring, in deciduous and mixed forests, not only snowdrops are the first to appear, but also morels - mushrooms, the photo of which is posted below. It remains to learn about the characteristics of growth, collection and consumption of them.

Description

In early spring, when there are still remnants of snow, experienced mushroom pickers go into the forest for a quiet hunt. The morels have already appeared.

The edible morel species was first described by Carl Linnaeus himself in the middle of the 18th century. The taxonomist called the mushroom “a phallus with an ovoid cap.” A little later, the genus received the name Morschella from the Dutch taxonomist, mycologist Christian Person.

The fruiting body, what is called a mushroom in everyday life, is quite large in morels, but due to the fact that it is empty inside, the mushroom is very light. The height can be from 5 to 30 cm. The hat is elongated or egg-shaped, most often similar to a cap. She merges so tightly with
leg, which seems to be one piece. The height of the cap is on average from 4 to 10 cm, its diameter is up to 6 cm. The color of the cap can be:

• yellowish;
• brown;
• gray.

The older the fruiting body, the darker the cap. The surface of the cap is uneven, covered with depressions or cells of various sizes. Winding folds or “ribs” protrude between them. They look like wrinkles and may have given them their Russian name.

The stem is cylindrical, forms one whole with the cap, empty inside, brittle, up to 9 cm high.

It is important to know: in old fruiting bodies the stem is dark and covered with a coating similar to flakes.

All species are considered conditionally edible.

Properties and contraindications

Like all food products, morels have energy value equal to 27 kcal/100 g. They contain nutrients:

• proteins about 1.7 g/100 g;
• carbohydrates about 4.4 g/100 g;
• fat about 0.3 g/100g.

In addition, it contains:

• B vitamins;
• nitrogenous substances;
• polysaccharides;
• aromatic compounds.

Thanks to the pleasant mushroom aroma, good taste, due to the presence of vitamins and nutrients, young fruiting bodies are recommended to be eaten after special processing.

note: Morels contain a toxic substance - helwellic acid. It is because of this that they are considered conditionally edible; they can only be eaten after preliminary processing. They should not be fed to children, especially those under five years of age.

It is completely contraindicated to eat old fruiting bodies, in which a large number of harmful and toxic compounds accumulate.

Application

Morels are used primarily in cooking. The opinion of domestic mushroom pickers and cooks is divided. Some consider them excellent mushrooms, others classify them as third-class products.

European and American experts consider them a delicacy. At their annual conventions, American mycologists obligatorily feast on boiled morels.

In addition to cooking, they have found use in folk medicine. From ancient times to the present day, decoctions and tinctures from the fruiting bodies of morels have been used to treat eye diseases. A positive effect is observed both in the treatment of cataracts and in cases of increased visual load.

Advice: We must remember that before any treatment you need to consult a specialist.

Used for diseases:

• lungs, including tuberculosis;
• stomach and intestines;
• blood and vessels;
• for anemia.

Currently, the production of active additives from morels has been launched.

Where to collect?

Most often, morels settle in deciduous forests. They can often be found in forested areas. Perhaps they form mycorrhiza with oak and deciduous shrubs.

Considering that fruiting bodies appear as soon as the snow melts, they can be found in open, well-warmed places. The main wave grows later, approximately in the second half of April.

The shape of the cap and its color allow the morel to camouflage perfectly among dried leaves or last year’s grass.

Keep in mind: Having found one specimen, you need to stir the foliage around; others grow nearby.

Favorite places are old forest fires, forest clearings, well-warmed edges, clearings and paths in deciduous or mixed forest, in small spruce forests. You can also find families of morels near piles of old brushwood.

How to use it correctly?

Morels must be properly processed before cooking:

1. Sort through the collected mushrooms, trim the ends of the stems.
2. Place the mushrooms in a spacious bowl and fill with clean water.
3. Soak them in water for two hours.
4. During this time, stir 3-4 times.
5. After this, rinse the morels three times, changing the water all the time.
6. Place in a saucepan, add water, add salt, bring to a boil, cook for 10 minutes.
7. Drain the water.
8. Fill with new water and repeat the procedure.
9. Drain the cooked morels in a colander.
10. Allow excess water to drain.

After this, the mushrooms can be used for first courses, fried, stewed, used in fillings, or prepared for mushroom caviar.

If further cooking involves frying in oil, the frying pan must be covered with a lid to avoid splashing of hot liquid.

Similar types and differences from them

At the same time as morels, only one genus of mushroom appears in the forest - strings. Mushrooms may seem similar, but upon closer inspection they are different.

The main difference between morels is:

• a rather high leg almost equal in height to the cap;
• honeycomb pattern of the cap;
• hollow stem and cap.

The lines differ in that:

• the leg is wide and short, often almost invisible from under the cap;
• the cap is irregular, round in shape;
• the surface of the cap is covered with various folds and wrinkles, similar to the surface of a walnut kernel;
• inside is the fruiting body, including the stem. has many partitions;
• except for spring ones, there are autumn lines, appearing in August.

Some experts consider the stitches to be toxic fungi that disrupt the functioning of the central nervous system, destroy the liver, and cause the development of cancer .

Edible species

Conical morel

About 10 species of different morels can be found throughout the country. Among them, you can most often find in the forest:

• S. tall- the largest of the entire genus, the fruiting body can be 25 - 30 cm in height, the vertical folds on the caps run almost parallel to each other, the length of the cap and stem are approximately the same;
• S. conical- similar to a tall morel, but inferior to it in size, the height of the mushroom is from 5 to 16 cm, the cap is dark, brown-brown, yellow-brown, black-brown, most often the size of the cap is 2/3 of the entire height of the mushroom;
• S. edible- the height of the mushroom does not exceed 16 cm, the cap is oval or ovoid, although there are specimens with a round and flattened cap, which can be found not only in the forest, but also in the garden. and even in the flowerbed.

It is also called the common merry or the immodest phallus. The veselka immediately looks like a simple white egg. Edible at any age, despite the unpleasant smell, it is considered a delicacy by French chefs.

Despite the fact that spring morels are difficult to confuse with other mushrooms, you still need to collect them carefully; if you have any suspicion, then leave the catch in the forest.

Where morel mushrooms grow and how to collect them, see the following video:

Beginning mushroom pickers believe that it is not worth going for mushrooms before May. Like, just trample your feet.

But in fact, mushrooms appear even earlier.

Myceliums begin to wake up everywhere in different ways - depending on climatic conditions. For example, in northern latitudes it is still winter in March, but in southern latitudes field work is in full swing. It is at this time that the first mushrooms appear there. These are morels. It’s not for nothing that morels are called “scout mushrooms” and “mushroom snowdrops.” They seem to be saying goodbye to winter: there is still snow in the ravines, and wrinkled morel caps adorn the hills.

Many mushroom pickers do not take these mushrooms seriously, considering them almost poisonous. In fact, these marsupial mushrooms are classified as conditionally edible. The fact is that morels contain helvelic acid, which, if it enters the human body, can cause severe poisoning. But when boiled, this acid is completely destroyed and the mushroom can be eaten without fear. Therefore, before the main cooking, morels are cut in half, boiled for about 10 minutes, and the resulting broth is poured out. Then the mushrooms are washed. AND Only after this can the morels be boiled or fried.

Useful properties of morels

• Morels contain 3.28% protein, 0.79% carbohydrates and 0.43% fat.
• Morels contain vitamins A, B1, B2, C, PP, D, as well as useful microelements: potassium, calcium, phosphorus, sulfur, magnesium, sodium...
• Morels are used to treat eye diseases and improve vision.
• Morels improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.
• Morel tincture is used externally in the treatment of rheumatism and joints.

What do morels look like?

• Morels have wrinkled caps that look like a dented honeycomb.
• The real morel has a round cap, yellow-brown in color. The leg is also hollow and grooved.
• The conical morel has an elongated cap.
• The giant morel has an almost round, cellular cap. The color of the cap is dirty gray. It received this name for its gigantic growth. The height of some morels reaches 35 cm, and the flattened cap is larger than a dinner plate.

Where do morels grow?

Morels grow wherever there are forests.

Conical morel most often found in pine forests, sometimes in deciduous ones. It grows in forest clearings, willows, among bushes, gardens and fields.

Gray giant morel less demanding on the landscape and soil composition. It is found in clay deserts, along ditches, and in bush thickets. Loves poplar plantations and shelterbelts.

If the weather is warm, humid, morels will appear in the open desert.

As long as the earth is filled with moisture, morels can be found in gardens, orchards and vineyards.

But most often, mushroom pickers go to mixed forests for morels. In sunny meadows or on old burnt-out areas, as well as near stumps, you can find true morel.

But in coniferous forests A conical morel grows.

In warm, rainy weather, the harvest of morels can be simply huge, but more than half of the mushrooms remain unclaimed. Again, due to the presence of helvelic acid in them. By the way, it is destroyed not only by boiling (this was mentioned above), but also by drying.

Compared to other mushrooms, which can be harvested for two to three months in a row, morels appear for a short time - as long as there is moisture in the soil and there is no intense heat. Sometimes this period lasts only two to three weeks. And then the morels disappear, only to appear next year.

Some of the most popular types of morels include conical (or tall), common, common round, semi-loose and cap morels. All of them lend themselves perfectly to any culinary processing - from boiling and frying to salting and pickling. Those mushrooms that have reached vegetative maturity can be dried. And young, small fruiting bodies are excellent for canning.

Avid mushroom pickers know very well when to collect strings: these mushrooms appear in the forest on the May Day holidays or on Victory Day. And immediately after them, and sometimes at the same time, you can go into the forest for lines. Since ancient times, rural residents have associated the period of collecting morels with the spring replenishment of edible reserves. Very often these mushrooms were the first nutritious food after a hungry winter. Morels of all types are very delicious mushrooms with delicate hats. They are good fried, pickled, and salted. In addition, some varieties have medicinal properties. With photos, descriptions and distinctive features of the stitches different types you can find it in this material.

Where do conical morels (Morchella conica) grow? in grassy areas of deciduous and mixed forests, often on the edges and in plantings, they grow in groups or singly.

Season: April May.

The cap has a diameter of up to 2-4 cm and a height of up to 10 cm. A distinctive feature of the species is the bell-shaped, conical cap of a gray-brown color with a cellular surface. The cap below is fused with the leg.

As can be seen in the photo, this type of morel has a cellular-ribbed cap surface with elongated rhomboidal cells, similar to a honeycomb, separated from each other by dark partitions:

The leg is 3-8 cm high, 15-30 mm thick, white or yellowish, cylindrical, hollow inside.

Pulp: waxy, brittle, whitish, odorless and with a pleasant taste.

Variability. The color of the cap changes, at first it is gray-brown, later gray-brown or olive-black.


Similar species. According to the description, the conical morel mushroom looks like common morel (Morchella esculeuta). The main difference is in the village. The usual one is not a pointed-conical or candle-shaped shape, but a rounded bell-shaped one.

Methods of preparation: mushrooms are fried, boiled, canned.

Edible, category 3.


Medicinal properties:

• Tincture and extract from morels are used to restore vision.
• Used to treat myopia, age-related farsightedness and cataracts.
• Since ancient times, morels have calmed the nervous system and restored visual acuity.

Morel cap

Habitats of the morel cap (Verpa conica): sandy and calcareous soils in deciduous and mixed forests, grow in small groups.

Season: April May

The cap has a diameter of 2-4 cm, height - 2-4 cm, the shape of the mushroom is candle-shaped with a cap. A distinctive feature of the species is a long white-cream stem and a brown or olive-brown wrinkled small bell-shaped cap. The cap is attached to the stem at its top in such a way that the edges of the cap remain free.


The leg is 3-12 cm high, 5-18 mm thick, long and whitish, cylindrical, with a powdery coating, hollow inside. The surface of the stalk is often covered with small brownish granules, which are located longitudinally.

Pulp: whitish, tender, brittle, odorless and tasteless. The spores are white.

Records. The stem in the upper part immediately turns into a cap and there are practically no plates.


Variability. The color of the cap varies from brown to olive green to olive brown.

Similar species. The morel cap is similar to the common morel (Morchella esculenta).

Common morel

Where are morels (Morchella esculenta) collected? in grassy places of deciduous and mixed forests, most often next to ash, poplar, elm, in thickets of bushes, on the edges and in plantings, they grow in groups or singly.

Season: March - May.


The cap has a diameter of 4-8 cm and a height of up to 10 cm. A distinctive feature of the species is an ovoid or conical-bell-shaped cap of light brown or brown color with a cellular surface. The cap below is fused with the leg. The surface of the cap is cellular-ribbed with elongated rhomboidal cells, similar to a honeycomb, separated from each other by thin partitions.

The leg is 4-12 cm high, 15-30 mm thick, thick and strong, covered with grooves, yellowish or light brown, cylindrical, hollow inside. The base of the leg is very thickened.

Pulp:

Records. The stem in the upper part immediately goes into the cap, so there are no plates as such.

Similar species. Common morel mushrooms look similar in surface to conical morels (Morchella conica). A distinctive feature of the common morel is its relatively large cellular cap, which is attached to the stem along the entire plane of contact.

Methods of preparation: mushrooms are fried, boiled, canned, dried.

Medicinal properties: Similar to the conical morel.

These photos show what common morels look like:

Common morel round

Habitats of the common morel (Morchella esculenta, var. rotunda): on old fallen trees covered with moss, in deciduous and mixed forests.


When do round morel mushrooms grow: April May.

A distinctive property of the species is the small round shape of the entire mushroom without a stalk, or with a rudimentary stalk. The surface of the mushroom is wavy and bumpy. The size of the mushroom is 0.5-4 cm.

Pulp: whitish, light brown, with a faint pleasant odor.

Records. There are no records as such.


Variability. The color of the cap varies from light brown and yellow-brown to dark brown.

Similar species. The round morel is similar in color and the nature of the surface of the cap to the conical morel (Morchella conica), which is distinguished by its pointed or candle-shaped shape.


Methods of preparation: mushrooms are fried, boiled, canned, dried.