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The Yellow Morel

Morchella americana (prev. Morchella esculenta)

The last and largest of the morels to fruit in the spring, the yellow morel is the king of all of the morel species. Morchella americana starts to appear around 3 weeks after the black morels start.

Yelow morels start to appear as small baby grey mushrooms. People commonly refer to them as the “grey morel” however they are just an immature stage of the Morchella americana.

A young Yellow Morel (Morchella americana)


Don’t be to impatient and pick these young babies as they will grow for weeks as long as they do not dry out or freeze. A small dime size grey can grow into the size of a baseball! (See https://www.mushroomhole.com/morel-growth/ )

A hat full of little greys can turn into a bushel basket of big yellows in a couple weeks time. Don’t expect to see much of a change in growth over night, or even a couple days. They take time to get big. The wait is worth the reward. Cover them up if you’re worried about someone else finding them!

Morchella americana can be found in all kind of places, dying elm trees, ash trees, aspen stands, white pines, old orchards, and even in fields and along road sides with no trees around. I always have my eyes open for them in the spring. They can even be found in the city growing in parks and yards.

These were left to grow for 2 weeks, had I picked them when I first found them they would have filled a small bowl
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The Black Morel

Morchella angusticeps

The black morel is the first morel to appear in the spring. A very hardy and cold weather resistant species, the black morel can be found soon after the first snow melt and a few warm spring days. As with any morel they will start as tiny babies and need time to grow.

The black morel usually fruit in large patches in a variety of habitats including aspen stands, mixes hardwoods and pines. The color of the black morel makes them one of the hardest to spot in the woods. They are slightly more delicate than the other morels other than the half-frees but are packed with flavor and are the favorite of many foragers.