Morchella elata is a species of fungus in the
familyIn biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus...
MorchellaceaeThe Morchellaceae is a family of ascomycete fungi. The best known members are the highly-regarded and commercially picked true morels of the genus Morchella, the thimble morels of the genus Verpa, and a genus of cup-shaped fungi Disciotis....
. It is one of three related species commonly known as the
black morel, the others being
M. angusticeps and
M. conica. The
fruiting bodiesAn ascocarp, or ascoma , is the fruiting body of an ascomycete fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and may contain millions of asci, each of which contains typically eight ascospores...
of
M. elata are known to be consumed by
grizzly bearThe grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America....
s (species
Ursus arctos horribilis) in
Yellowstone National ParkYellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress as a national park on March 1, 1872 , is located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, though it also extends into Montana and Idaho. The park was the first of its kind, and is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features,...
.
Fruiting bodies are hollow, and usually 5—10 cm tall, with an ovoid or conical head.
Morchella elata is a species of fungus in the
familyIn biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus...
MorchellaceaeThe Morchellaceae is a family of ascomycete fungi. The best known members are the highly-regarded and commercially picked true morels of the genus Morchella, the thimble morels of the genus Verpa, and a genus of cup-shaped fungi Disciotis....
. It is one of three related species commonly known as the
black morel, the others being
M. angusticeps and
M. conica. The
fruiting bodiesAn ascocarp, or ascoma , is the fruiting body of an ascomycete fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and may contain millions of asci, each of which contains typically eight ascospores...
of
M. elata are known to be consumed by
grizzly bearThe grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America....
s (species
Ursus arctos horribilis) in
Yellowstone National ParkYellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress as a national park on March 1, 1872 , is located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, though it also extends into Montana and Idaho. The park was the first of its kind, and is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features,...
.
Description
Fruiting bodies are hollow, and usually 5—10 cm tall, with an ovoid or conical head. The stipe (often swollen at the base) is 4—10 cm tall x 1.5—5 cm thick.
M. elata is characterized by the production of brown or reddish-purple, elongated, cylindrical, slightly pointed globular, longitudinal pits.
M. elata may be distinguished from the other black morels by smooth, white stalks in younger specimens, by steel-grey colors in the ridges and pits of the
pileusThe pileus is the technical name for what is commonly known as the cap of a fungal fruiting body. It is particularly characteristic of agarics, boletes, and some polypores, tooth fungi, and ascocarps. Other sporocarp types have less clear differentiation between the pileus and the rest of the...
, and by the production of spores larger than those of
M. angusticeps. The spore deposit is cream-colored. This is an edible species, although like other morels, some individuals may be allergic.
M. elata grows in small groups on soil in forests. It is most well-known in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
and
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
. The variety
M. elata var.
purpurescens, known only from
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, has a purple-colored fruiting body.
Microscopic features
The
sporeIn biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions...
s of this species are typically colorless, smooth, ellipsoid in shape, and 20—28 x 12—15
µmA micrometre or micron is one millionth of a metre,or equivalently one thousandth of a millimetre....
.
Like other species in the genus
Morchella,
M. elata has operculate asci (i.e., having an ascus opening by an apical lid to discharge spores), and unicellular
hyalineThe term hyaline literally refers to a substance with a glass-like appearance.In common medical histopathological usage, hyaline is a substance with a glassy, pink appearance after haematoxylin and eosin staining—most often an acellular, proteinaceous material...
ascospores with polar oil droplets.
External links