More Morels! The Semifree Morel
As you may know or not I recently got lucky finding some Black Morels this April 2012, and as luck would have it I actually stumbled across another species of Morel a couple of days afterwards! Marvellous…
I had a foray at Cloud wood (NW Leicestershire. Note: Cloud Wood is access by permit only and no digging up or removal of fungi is allowed) in which I found a reasonably good bunch of wild fungi, some even first timers for me. The most distinctive discovery though was the Semifree Morel (Morchella semilibera / Mitrophora semilibera). You can read more of my lucky find of the tasty Black Morel here featuring useful information very similar to this Semifree species…
The distinctive vertical ridges and pits on the cap are almost the same as our lovely Black Morel, but when compared, the main difference is the smaller pointy cap and longer stem. The bottom part of the cap is free from the stem and attaches higher up, hence the English name ‘Semifree’.
Although it’s a great looking species of Morel, found in it’s native habitat in damp woodland (luckily there was rain a day or so before), it is unfortunately not as worthy as it’s tastier cousins. It is said to be edible (after cooking) but apparently not worth the effort. It has been known to cause stomach upset in some people. Well, you can’t win ’em all!
Hope you all get some luck finding some of the tastier Morels out there real soon…
And to finish:
The first morel the shepherds did see
In the springtime beneath a dying elm tree:
Morel, morel,
Morel, morel!
Where we find them we never will tell,
Morel!
All together now…