Yellow morel from the "esculenta" family

I showed you the beginning of its growth in this post.

Early growth of a yellow morel.

This is currently the only morel of this group I found this year. It grows in my biotope #3.

Interesting outings regarding fungi : bell morels - Verpa conica. More...

In this   post, I told you about the different strategies to find morels.

It was with a grove of hawthorn, blackthorn and of an old apple tree abandoned.

As a reminder, here is a picture of the grove that I showed you.

A grove of potential interest.

Interesting outings regarding fungi : bell morels - Verpa conica

With the end of the rainy season and summer temperatures, I took the opportunity in recent days, to achieve different outings in different habitats at different altitudes.

My picking morels have been abundant, I could walk from my mind quiet and curious.

Rather than offer my outings one by one, I gather my finds by theme, except for my walk at high altitude.

First, a word about the biotopes: I realized an output at 700m altitude in a wooded area of Vosges forest and pasture area.

The black morel must be deserved !

And that is deserved in more ways than one! In fact it is black or common!

Not only, to find your spots of morels, you must spend time looking for them.

You will notice in this connection, that in the jargon of morel pickers, we talk about stalking, hiding, hunting morel, and many other terms of hunting.

But still, you have to have a faith, a perseverance, a sixth sense that tells you to go on and on, foolproof.

And when finally you reach the Holy Grail, you are not after your efforts !

An exceptional picking of morels

It doesn't happen often to me to pick as much

I must say that this April 19, 2012, the first morels waiting for me already quite far from my usual spot in the grass!

Morels in the grass.

Morel in the grass.

Morel, Morchella elata, in the grass.

Jew's ear or jelly ear

This is a mushroom not so common here.

You will often see it elsewhere on the elder tree.

This year I was lucky to find it on two different spots.

Jelly ear or Auricularia auricula-judae, is fairly easy to recognize due to its mat gelatinous appearance, with its ear-shaped, its color, deep wrinkles and small whitish bloom that can be seen very well on pictures.

Typical Jelly ear

Typical Jelly ear.

Arrival of the round yellow morels

It is the only spot of round yellow morels or Morchella esculenta var. rotunda that I know.

I had spotted last year and I was wondering if this station was perennial or pioneer.

It will take several years to determine, but this April 19, 2012, the first decided to show the tip of his cap.

The first round yellow morel appears.

Stroll in the mountains

This Wednesday, April 18, I did a little hike in the mountains.

The acid terrain of the Vosges doesn't lend itself to the growth of morels, but you can sometimes find interesting things.

Besides a wonderful habitat for summer fungi, I saw nothing of the fungal side.

A biotope in the Vosges mountains interesting to explore this summer.

Morel and weather of april 2012

You have probably noticed, after a dry, sunny and hot, we have, for about a week, a cloudy, sometimes rainy and unusually cold, with some frost at night.

What are then the consequences for the growth of our precious morels?

And here are St. George's mushrooms !

Out prospecting, this Saturday, April 14, 2012, in a limestone area, looking for yellow morels, Morchella esculenta.

No morel was found, but a beautiful fairy ring of St. George's mushrooms - Calocybe gambosa.


These are the first, but the growth promises to be particularly abundant and dense.

A beautiful picking of morels

April 5, I had spotted small morels finally growing thanks to some showers in my biotope #1 less wet than my biotope #2.

The result is up to my expectations this Tuesday, April 10, 2012.

Besides beautiful morels weighing up to 25 grams, I found that many small morels showed the tip of their cap.

Morels again !

Saturday, April 7, during a walk with my dog, I moved quickly on my biotope #2 where I left a few small morels grow.

Despite the lack of rain, they have grown well, hiding in the vegetation to take advantage of moisture.

Hidden morel.

Hidden morels.

I haven't had time to return before this Tuesday, April 10 because of Easter weekend.

New growth of morels !

Morel in my biotope #1 before the rain.

 A few days ago, I was worried because of the drought.

My biotope #1 had shown me only a single morel.

Thanks to the rain of recent days, I was surprised that many small morels were coming out.


In 48 or 72 hours, some beautiful morels will surely be collected.

In my biotope #2, I took the opportunity to pick up some nice size morels spotted a few days ago.

A beautiful picking of big morels.

First Morels 2012 !

And here are my first morels 2012, nice Morchella elata, spotted one day before, growing under old apple trees, brambles and bushes in my biotope #2.

Hopefully, the long awaited rain will finally fall to promote their growth.

Morchella elata.

Morchella elata.

My spots for morels - second part

The third station is also very classic :

it is a grassy area with three trees.
In this area grew morels - Morchella esculenta.
I don't know if implantation is perennial or pioneer as the first morels appeared next to an area with recent fire.

Morel beside a fire place.

Morchella esculenta.

Morchella esculenta.

The fourth station is a bit special

My spots for morels - first part

I present you the spots for morels that I discovered in 2011.

My first spot is classic :

it's a fallow area with european aspens.
In this area, two places of morels - Morchella elata - are located just meters.
By analyzing the ground a bit, I also found the remains of old fire place. I also found some morels at the foot of aspen up to 40 meters of the two main places.
This is probably an area where the implantation of morels is perennial.

Morchella elata.

Morchella elata.

Biotope #1 with european aspens.

My second station is also classical :

How find morels.

After answering the question "when searching for morels?" comes naturally the question "how to find morels?".

The establishment of a certain strategy can increase your chances of nice discoveries.

An old fire place in a cleared area.

Good morels areas can be 2 types: perennial areas where the morel appears every year, and pioneering areas where the morel appears only one or two years, sometimes abundant before disappearing later.

If you have never found morels, you will easily find general informations that can identify habitats that may be suitable to morels.

If you have already found morels, you can look similar places or with some variations, it will help deepen your knowledge and to better target your research.

A grove with hawthorn.

I will not speak here of plants associated with morels. This is a vast subject, and most importantly, with time and a lot of exploration in different parts, I realized that these associations could vary widely. This will be further investigated.

When find morels ?

If you know one or more morel collectors, your task will be simplified: as soon as these people will find you can begin your research.

Snowdrop

If you do not know anyone, your task will be a little more complicated but I can give you some ideas.

In general, I observe the progress of vegetation: the bursting of the first buds, end flowerings of certain plants like snowdrops or snowflake flowers (Galanthus nivalis or vernum Leucojum), early flowering of the wood anemones (Anemone nemorosa) and daffodils (Narcissus pseudonarcissus) are good indicators.

First find.

It was during one of these walks that I had the pleasure of finding these Tubaria. It is difficult to identify the species without a microscopic study, probably Tubaria hiemalis or romagnesiana.

This small fungus can occur in the fall, grows in winter at least thaws and still growing in early spring. It typically grows on woody debris. In addition to its aesthetic appearence, it is interesting for the morels collector that I am.

And when comes the season for morels ...

Late winter.

Winter is still here, but something indefinable makes rouse us. Perhaps is it the warmer weather, birds singing more... The fact is that any morels collector wakes up, feeling like vegetation spring, with this in mind: to visit his favorite spots.

This rule applies also to me. A kind of instinct tells me to go and see my stations. Needless to say I already know in advance that I have no luck finding morels so early in the season.

Look at the terrain and climate of your prospecting area. Part 2.

From these observations, we can already establish an early prospecting strategy.

A nice soil for morel.

The morel likes wetlands, but not too cool and relatively well exposed.










We therefore eliminate the land too heavy and poorly exposed.
To recognize a light or heavy ground , just take a little land and do like gardeners , tighten in your hand.

Look at the terrain and climate of your prospecting area. Part 1

The first puzzle to be solved before rushing headlong in search of morels is to know the terrain and climate of the prospecting area.

If you live in an area where the climate is fairly constant and the terrain has the same nature everywhere, your task will be easy.
Unfortunately this is not my case.

And here is my current hunting ground.

Panorama.

A mountainous area at the south of the Vosges Mountains, the Vosges Saônoises, whose highlights are the Ballon de Servance (1216m) and La Planche des Belles Filles (1148m). Ronchamp Champagney lie at the foothills at an altitude of about 300 meters in the Natural Park of Ballons Comtois.

The morel, an apart mushroom for collectors.

Welcome on my blog !

The morel has a special place among mushroom collectors.

Indeed, this fungus is particularly difficult to find, it happens quite early in the season and is especially delicious.

I had the opportunity to find some in many regions according to my successive removals.

When I arrived in this region, thanks to my experience