Morchella populiphila M. Kuo, M.C. Carter and J.D. Moore
western half-free morel
Morchellaceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
western half-free morel
Morchellaceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
Introduction
The genus Morchella (morels) is undergoing taxonomic revision and further study. This means that most names presently used for this group are inaccurate. We present morels in E-Flora, however, to show that this element of the fungi flora is present in British Columbia. Morchella elata, for example, really represents a group of related Black Morels. There is also a group of Blond Morels and a small group of Half-free Morels. DNA studies have shown the two morels that look identical in the field and have been called Morchella elata, for example, can actually be one of about four different species. To confound matters, Morels that look very different from each other have turned out to be the same species when their DNA was examined. There are only a few species of morels that can be identified based on field and microscopic studies. To read more, visit Michael Kuo's website.
Note Author: Michael Beug |
Species Information
Summary:
{See also Morels Table.} Morchella populiphila has the general appearance of more common morels but distinguished by the attachment of the head when cut lengthwise: the other morels in the Pacific Northwest have heads that are intergrown with the stem for most of the height of the cap, while Morchella populiphila has the lower part of the cap (often as much as half of it) free of the stem. (Verpa species have a cap that is free of the cap except right at the top of the stem.) It has mostly found under Populus trichocarpa om river bottoms in spring, but has been documented by molecular means from a residential yard and a city park without Populus present. This morel has been known in North America as Morchella semilibera DC: Fr., but the North American taxa have been separated based on molecular study, (Kuo(6)). The description below is derived from Kuo(6) except where specified.
Microscopic:
spores 20-25(29) x 12-16(18) microns, elliptic, smooth, contents homogeneous; asci 8-spored, 225-325 x 15-22.5 microns, cylindric, colorless; paraphyses 150-275 x 7-15 microns, cylindric with subclavate, clavate or subclavate tips, colorless in 2% KOH, septate; elements on sterile ridges 100-175 x 10-25 microns, septate, "tightly packed in an even layer", brownish in 2% KOH, terminal cell "broadly clavate to sub-rectangular with a flattened to broadly rounded apex"
Spore Deposit:
bright yellowish orange
Notes:
Collections were examined from OR, CA, and NV (Kuo(6)) and Spain (Richard(1)). Morchella ''semilibera'' has been found also in ID, (Arora), WA (M. Beug, pers. comm.), and a collection from BC is deposited at University of British Columbia.
Habitat and Range
SIMILAR SPECIES
Morchella punctipes is similar but appears in eastern hardwood forests, especially those containing Fagus americana (American Beech), Liriodendron tulipifera (Yellow-poplar), and Ulmus americana (American Elm), (collections from IL, MI, MO, PA, and VA), (Kuo(6)); Morchella populina occurs in QC, and the northwest and west of the United States, and is found under Populus, but it has a similar appearance to Morchella esculenta (Clowez).Habitat
under Populus trichocarpa (Black Cottonwood) in river bottoms, March and April, (Kuo(6)), collected where Populus was not present, from a residential yard and a city park in Pullman, WA, (McCotter)
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Ciboria ciliatospora Fuckel
Helotium scutula (Pers.) P. Karst.