Black morel

How to recognise it: black morel

1. 1

   Spring, often on bark mulch in gardens and parks

2. 2

   Dark, conical head with pits in vertical rows

3. 3

   Margin of the head stands slightly away from the stem

4. 4

   A single hollow chamber inside

5. 5

   Never eat raw

Description

Cap

Head 3–7 cm across, elongated, bluntly conical, grey-brown, olive-brown to blackish; pits elongated, arranged in vertical rows between lengthwise ribs; hollow inside.

Underside

No gills or tubes – the spore-bearing layer is in the pits of the head.

Stem

Whitish to cream, narrower than the head; the margin of the head stands slightly away from the stem at its base (a sinus-like notch) – a feature distinguishing it from Morchella elata.

Flesh

Brittle, waxy, whitish; head and stem form a single hollow chamber.

Smell and taste

Smell and taste pleasant, indistinct. Spore print dark cream, yellowish.

Where and when it grows

In early spring in damp, light places: forest edges, scrub, stream valleys (more common in the mountains, often near butterbur), and also parks and gardens – especially on freshly spread bark mulch in its first or second year. Red List: R.

Where are conditions good today?

Look-alikes: what it can be mistaken for

• 

  False morel Deadly poisonous high risk of confusion

  Deadly poisonous. The false morel has a brain-like folded head without pits, and its interior is divided into many chambers; the morel – regular pits and a single hollow chamber.

  Step-by-step comparison: Black morel or false morel →
• 

  Common morel Edible with care low risk

  The common morel has a paler (ochre-yellow), more globose head with irregularly arranged pits; both are edible and protected.

In the kitchen

Always cook or fry thoroughly. Drying, frying in butter, sauces, soups. Pick legally only in gardens, parks and green areas.

Watch out for toxins

Raw and undercooked morels cause severe gastrointestinal illness; the toxins are broken down during cooking (First Nature).

Protection and sale

• Species protection: partially protected. Partial protection applies to specimens growing outside gardens, horticultural crops, forest nurseries and outside green areas (previously, in 1983–2014, strict protection). The species is in Annex 3 (harvesting by hand-picking of fruit bodies), but only on the basis of a permit from the regional or general directorate for environmental protection (RDOŚ/GDOŚ) – there is no general exemption for picking for your own use. Specimens from gardens, crops, nurseries and green areas are not protected.
• Sale: the species is on the list of mushrooms approved for sale (it may be sold only with a mushroom inspector’s certificate). Permitted for sale only from gardens, horticultural crops, forest nurseries and green areas, or from outside the territory of the Republic of Poland.

Where you may pick mushrooms →