Morchella purpurascens

Description

Morchella purpurascens is an ascomycete fungus in the family Morchellaceae. The species is characterized by the pinkish or purplish colors on the cap of its young fruit bodies.

It was first described as a variety of Morchella elata by Emile Boudier in 1897, based on a plate previously illustrated by Julius Vincenz von Krombholz. It was then recombined as a distinct species in 1985 by Emile Jacquetant, and validated the following year by Jacquetant and Bon. As with many other morel species, its taxonomical status remained for a long time a subject of debate, until an extensive phylogenetic and nomenclatural study in 2014 by Richard and colleagues confirmed this species' autonomy and matched it to phylogenetic lineage Mel-20.

Common names: Purple More.

Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   5 to 8 cm; rounded when young and later with a more pointed shape. Vertical ribs with continuity, forming long alveoli with horizontal partitions, sometimes very numerous and in the background. These vertical ribs are thickest in the early stages of development and become thinner and blacker with age. Variable color, pink that is accentuated after harvesting.

2. Stem

   Has a visible depression, similar in size to that of the cap or somewhat smaller, always with an appreciable for furcation and with a whitish color in youth and a pinkish color that can become somewhat darker in maturity.

3. Flesh

   Whitish flesh, not very thick, with a weak smell and taste.

4. Habitat

   Spring, under fir trees, also in damp places near rivers under ash trees.

5. Similar Species

   Morchella elata, which is usually more slender and with a different color on the cap. The foot is furfuraceous and pinkish in maturity, the color with pink tones of the miter as well as the size and shape of the alveoli distinguish it from the previous one.

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: pacovillalonga (CC BY-NC 4.0)