Morchella steppicola

Description

Morchella steppicola is a species of fungus in the family Morchellaceae (Ascomycota). It is an ecologically distinctive species that is widely distributed in central Eurasia, especially in temperate grasslands and East European steppes on calcareous and clay soils.

Unlike most true morels, this species can be readily identified morphologically by the densely packed labyrinth of irregular ridges on a cerebriform pileus and stout stipe within which one or more lacunae typically develop

Originally described from the stepping meadows of Ukraine in 1941, this ancient relic of the last ice age corresponds to Mes-1, the earliest-diverging phylogenetic lineage in section Esculenta.

Other than its unique –for the genus– ecological adaptation, this species boasts some remarkable features, such as the densely "blistered" or "merulioid" ridges of its cap, a chambered stem, and strongly striate spores.

Common names: The Steppe Morel.

Mushroom Identification

1. Fruit Bodies

   5 - 25 cm high, 3 - 5 cm in diameter, consists of a cap and a stem.

2. Cap

   Ovoid, broadly ovoid, round, irregularly shaped, sometimes flattened on the sides or top, tortuous-folded, cellular, with deep narrow cells, fused with the leg, hollow, with 2 - 4 isolated chambers.

3. Surface

   The surface of the cap is spore-bearing, dirty-brownish-gray, yellows when dry, acquires a dirty yellow, dirty-brownish color.

4. Stem

   4 - 9 cm high, always shorter and narrower than the cap, 4 - 6 cm in diameter, thick, cylindrical, wrinkled, first solid, later hollow, with several chambers, first white, later grayish-white, off-white.

5. Spores

   Asci 180-240 * 18-24 microns, cylindrical, 8 spores. Spores 17-36 * 10 * 18 μm, elliptical.

6. Spore Print

   Yellowish.

7. Flesh

   White, with a pleasant odor.

8. Habitat and Distribution

   Grow from mid-April to mid-May, in virgin steppes, on the ground, among the grass, in rare groups. Listed in the Red Book of Ukraine, with the status of "rare". The species is distributed worldwide in Moldova, southern Russia and Central Asia.

Look-Alikes

1. Morchella esculenta and Morchella vulgaris

   Darker in color, have a single-chambered hollow stalk, and grow in the woods rather than meadows and steppes.

2. Morchella crassipes

   Larger in size, single-chambered hollow stalk, grows in forests rather than meadows and steppes.

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: 2013-03-03 Morchella spongiola Boud 313943.jpg: (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 2 - Author: Butko (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 3 - Author: Butko (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 4 - Author: Butko (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 5 - Author: Zenon Sych (CC BY-SA 4.0)