Category: Spring

Mushrooms found throughout the spring months.

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Pinch, Cut or Pull?

I often get asked if it’s best to cut a morel or pull it out of the ground. My answer is always the same, “How crunchy would you like your morels?”

Morchella are a class of mushrooms that are known as being Saprophytic. These organisms collect their nutrients by absorbing them from rotting and decaying matter. In particular for Morels that would be tree roots.

The mycelium is the living body of of a mushroom. It is a web like structure spanning underground that taps itself into decaying matter to survive. Then when it’s reproduction cycle starts it begins sending growth above ground which we identify as “mushrooms”.

Now here’s where a lot of speculation comes in to play. Everyone has varying opinions of what happens when you cut a mushroom, or pluck it from the ground. Some believe you damage the mycelium when you rip a mushroom up. I personally disagree with this. I believe it will actually promote mycelium growth, granted this is just my opinion.

Others believe that if you cut a morel at the base with a knife you leave a “stump” that is vulnerable to rotting and spreading infection underground into the mycelium. I doubt it. I don’t think it’s any different than the mushrooms that do not get picked and are left to finish sporing, and rot away naturally.

Choose how you want to harvest your mushrooms and go with it. But if you’re pulling them make sure to break off any dirt before you put them in your bag. You’ll have an much more enjoyable culinary experience when you aren’t grinding your expensive dental work down with fine gravel.

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A Not So Extraordinary Season of 2021 So Far!

I wish I had a great and exciting mushroom report for this year’s on-going morel season but it seems cold temperatures and dry weather have hampered our time in the woods so far. We traveled 6 miles on foot the last 2 days with an embarrassing amount of morels to show for it.

I’ve seen varied reports of some people doing well in NW Michigan, it seems the lakeshore areas are producing much better than the central counties. Now with 3, below-freezing nights and snow forecast for the southern counties, I’m afraid we’ll see a big impact on the rest of the season. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed!

Big News!

I’m working on some major and exciting changes for The Mushroom Hole you might see bits and pieces here and there in the coming weeks. Check back in often, I’m not letting the cat out of the bag just yet, but soon!

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Four Signs for Morels

We all know spring is the time for morels but for those of us with busy schedules who want to reap the reward of their time spent foraging, or even for the beginners, who are unsure of when the best time to start looking, there are good indicators that we see daily that scream “it’s time!” These four blooms go hand in hand with morel season. When you see them, get out there!

Dandelions
Eastern Red Bud
Forsythia
Lilacs
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Morel Season 2020

It’s looking to be an early start to the season and a really weird one! I’m sitting here wondering, with the current state of affairs, how many people will even be in the woods this year?

Schools are closed down here in Michigan, bars and restaurants are now closed to dine-in patrons, and there’s a lot of talk of a nationwide shut down, not even excluding enacting martial law. Are people in the big towns even going to be allowed to leave to go shrooming?

The Mushroomhole is wishing the best for everyone. We are the strongest nation in the world. We will get through this! Stay safe, don’t panic and don’t forget to use hand sanitizer after you pump gas on your way to the woods!

What better way to practice social distancing though right? Good luck everyone and full bags!

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Aspen Oyster Mushrooms

The Aspen Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus populinus)

The Aspen Oyster mushroom is a late spring delicacy commonly found on dying or dead Big Tooth Aspen trees and their logs and branches on the forest floor. These mushrooms are easily distinguishable by their overlapping layers, whitish pink spore prints and their wonderful anise aroma.

Pleurotus populinus are a pretty cool mushroom. The mycelium hyphae form noose traps deep in the decaying wood where they trap and feed on nematodes (microscopic worms) that are also eating the dying tree. How cool is that! Finding these is also a good indicator that the yellow morels are up as well.

Be careful with these mushrooms as they can look perfectly fresh and clean but inside of them they can and commonly get infested with beetle larvae.

Always tear them in half and look inside. If there are tunnels there are bugs.

Ewww they looked fresh.

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The Half-Free Morel

Morchella punctipes

The half-free morel (Morchella punctipes) is the cause of a lot of confusion in the mushroom hunting community, especially for beginners. Although it is easily confused with a Morchella look-a-like called a Verpa (Verpa bohemica) it is in fact a true species of Morchella and perfectly edible. As with any mushroom, if it is your first time consuming them start with a little bit. You can still be allergic to this mushroom as with any of the morels.

In the following photo you will see a cross section of the half-free. It gets its name due to the way the stipe attaches halfway up to the top of the cap. You can see this clearly here and also note that the stem is completely hollow. Half-Free morels also have the classic pits in the cap that look carved out, versus the wrinkled up cap you will see on a Verpa.

Note the extra space at the top after the stem connects half way inside the cap. A Verpa stem will connect all the way at the top and have a cottony pith inside the stem.

Now let’s take a look at the Verpa bohemica, the most common morel look-a-like. Verpas may fool you from a distance but after studying a few you will quickly be able to distinguish the difference easily. Notice this verpa below, the cap is very wrinkled, unlike the defined, carved pits that a true morchella has.

Verpa bohemica a Morchella look-a-like

Now let’s take a look at a cross section of a verpa. Notice how the cap connects to the step all the way at the top. Also, notice the stem is not hollow.

Verpa bohemica

I hope this helps you identify a good edible from a morel look-a-like which is still listed as edible with caution. New studies are actually showing more people have been sickened by morels than those that have been sickened by Verpas. Personally I leave the Verpas where I see them but I will pick and enjoy all of the Half-Frees that I can!

Happy Hunting!

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The Yellow Morel

Morchella americana (prev. Morchella esculenta)

The last and largest of the morels to fruit in the spring, the yellow morel is the king of all of the morel species. Morchella americana starts to appear around 3 weeks after the black morels start.

Yelow morels start to appear as small baby grey mushrooms. People commonly refer to them as the “grey morel” however they are just an immature stage of the Morchella americana.

A young Yellow Morel (Morchella americana)


Don’t be to impatient and pick these young babies as they will grow for weeks as long as they do not dry out or freeze. A small dime size grey can grow into the size of a baseball! (See https://www.mushroomhole.com/morel-growth/ )

A hat full of little greys can turn into a bushel basket of big yellows in a couple weeks time. Don’t expect to see much of a change in growth over night, or even a couple days. They take time to get big. The wait is worth the reward. Cover them up if you’re worried about someone else finding them!

Morchella americana can be found in all kind of places, dying elm trees, ash trees, aspen stands, white pines, old orchards, and even in fields and along road sides with no trees around. I always have my eyes open for them in the spring. They can even be found in the city growing in parks and yards.

These were left to grow for 2 weeks, had I picked them when I first found them they would have filled a small bowl
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The Black Morel

Morchella angusticeps

The black morel is the first morel to appear in the spring. A very hardy and cold weather resistant species, the black morel can be found soon after the first snow melt and a few warm spring days. As with any morel they will start as tiny babies and need time to grow.

The black morel usually fruit in large patches in a variety of habitats including aspen stands, mixes hardwoods and pines. The color of the black morel makes them one of the hardest to spot in the woods. They are slightly more delicate than the other morels other than the half-frees but are packed with flavor and are the favorite of many foragers.