Morel Mushrooms The Essential Guide

Morels are colloquially known as the greatest mushrooms in the world, and there’s a good reason for that. You don’t get to become the state mushroom of Minnesota without being something special.As more people discover the joys of foraging for edible wild mushrooms, the reputation of the morel as a prime find has only grown. With that in mind, we’ve put together this essential guide to morel mushrooms: how to hunt them, how to sell them, and how to buy them (so you don’t miss out on the opportunity to try different varieties). Plus, some of our favorite morel recipes.

The first thing to know when it comes to hunting out your own morels is that there are multiple different species. While it’s probably not that helpful to get bogged down in the correct Latin names, we have put together a brief guide to the general different types and their identifying characteristics.

Grey morels, also known as common morels, have an irregular crown of ridges and pits that helps to differentiate them from the honeycomb structure of the yellow morel. 

The stem is uneven and has distinct ridges that run vertically. The stem widens out towards the base into a distinctive ‘elephant’s foot.’ The interior is hollow and the thin white flesh gives off a pleasant smell which can be intensified by drying.

Grey morels can often be found around dead and dying elms, in aspen groves, or in areas with alkaline soils.

Larger than its black or grey cousins, the blond morel, also known as the yellow morel, has a honeycomb structured cap and a creamy white stem. 

As the morel grows, the stem becomes brittle before becoming tough and fibrous as the mushroom becomes fully mature.

The yellow morel is a common sight in many woodlands, but can most often be found around the bases of ash, poplar, and elm trees. 

Yellow morels can also be found growing in apple orchards that have been treated with limestone. The limestone changes the pH balance of the soil to alkaline which suits the morel just fine.

Usually the first type of morel to sprout, black morels have a directive dark cap that curves under to connect to the stem. The stem is a creamy white that changes into a darker more translucent hue as the mushroom ages.While black morels can often be found around strands of ash, cottonwood, and sycamore, they especially like a wooded area where there has been a recent burn. This is because the wood ash changes the pH of the soil to a more alkali mix, much like the limestone treatments in orchards.

As a general rule, the morel mushroom can be found popping up in the United States from the beginning of March to the end of May. They typically show up in the same locations every year and prefer it when the temperatures hit around 60℉ during the day and around 40℉ at night.

Unfortunately, there are a number of mushrooms that look like morels but are definitely not edible. These include:

The stinkhorn is also sometimes confused with the morel but is not actively poisonous. When it comes to telling if what you’re picking is actually edible, three are two main things to bear in mind.

1. A true morel will be entirely hollow on the inside. This hollowness will extend from the cap all the way down the stem. Cut the specimen in half to examine if you are unsure.

2. Morels have a pitted cap that does not sit on top of the stem like an umbrella.

If at any point you are in doubt about whether what you have is a real morel, don’t eat it. Mushrooms like the deadly false morel and the early false morel contain the toxin gyromitrin which, if consumed in a sufficient amount, can lead to death.

While morels do technically grow in all 50 states, some states are better than others. To help you pick the best morel mushroom hunting spots, we’ve broken the U.S down into sections and provided some quick advice for each one.

States like Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi all contain patches of morels, but they just aren’t as abundant as they are further north. Interestingly, hunters from this region report that tulip poplars and sycamore trees are good places to look for morels. Unfortunately, if you’re morel mushroom hunting in Florida, you may be out of luck. But that certainly doesn’t mean you can’t try!

If you’re morel mushroom hunting in the Southwest, it’s a good idea to stick to the eastern section of the region, in states such as Texas and Oklahoma.

As with the Southwest, Texas and Oklahoma are the best places to fund morel mushrooms, although they can also be found in the river basins of Kansas and around elm and cottonwood trees in Nebraska.

States like Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin are very much a haven for morel mushroom hunting, with morel season starting in April and running through to mid-May. Elms (especially dead ones), ash, cottonwoods, oak, sycamore, and apple orchards are all great places to look for morels. They pop-up when ground temperatures are just right and will appear at the base of these trees in patches.

When it comes to finding morel mushrooms in states like New York, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, keep your eyes peeled for a confluence of apple and elm trees, ideally in shady but warm areas.

If you’re looking for morel mushrooms in states like Oregon, Colorado, and California, keep a lookout for conifers at elevations around 4000 to 6000 feet and burn areas, especially in California.

If you live in a state that doesn’t have a lot of morels, or that doesn’t have the type you love, don’t worry you can buy mushrooms online. 

If you’re looking for morel mushrooms for sale, Foraged is a great place to buy morels while still supporting small-scale producers and foragers.

If you think Foraged is like Etsy for mushrooms, you’re not far off. We help to bring passionate people together to buy and sell mushrooms and mushroom products. All things mushroom, all in one place!

If you’re lucky enough to have a surplus of morels, you can use Foraged to share your morels with others. Setting up your own shop on Foraged and selling morels couldn’t be easier. 

Our passionate and kind team is there to help you every step of the way, and are happy to show you how to how to sell morel mushrooms or even set up your shop for you!

Signing up and listing your items is entirely free, so you have nothing to lose! All of our payments are securely processed through Stripe – the most secure payment processor on the web.

Our job is to support you, and other small-scale producers like you, and we’re just as interested in what new and exciting mushroom products you want to share as we are in the morel price per pound.

At Foraged, we’re on a mission to empower small-scale food purveyors to grow healthy, sustainable businesses while nourishing everyday people by providing easy access to unique foods.

By supporting Foraged vendors, you're helping to build a better, more sustainable food system for everyone.

Plus, we're committed to doing things the right way - our platform puts the power back in the knowledgeable hands of those who grow, harvest, and create foods most responsibly.

And we don't just stop there, we also want to make sure you know how to cook and preserve the specialty foods you source from Foraged, which is why we provide educational resources and delicious recipes for you to try.

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