Morchella crassipes

What You Should Know

Morchella crassipes is a rare species of fungus of the genus Morchella. The fungus was classified in 1801. It has a bumpy hollow brittle yellowish-white stem that thickens to the bottom. The fruiting body is large, thick, up to 23 cm tall. Cap is yellowish-gray, broadly ovate or oval, to cylindrical-conical, with deep notches, the edge is accreted to the leg. The stem is yellowish-white, bumpy, with longitudinal uneven grooves, thickens in the apical part and to the bottom, hollow, brittle.

Morchella crassipes Mushroom Identification

1. Fruit Bodies

   Up to 23 cm tall, consists of a cap and legs, fused, with a common cavity.

2. Cap

   5 - 8.5 cm high, 3.5 - 10 cm in diameter, oval, broadly ovoid, cylindrical-conical, with deep notches, attached to the edge of the leg, hollow.

3. Stem

   4 -17 cm high, 4 - 8 cm in diameter, thickened at the base, bumpy, with longitudinal uneven furrows, hollow, brittle, whitish-yellowish.

4. Spores

   Asci 200-215 * 22 microns, cylindrical, 8 spores. Spores 20-30 * 12-18 microns, elliptical, with a smooth surface, light yellow.

5. Spore Print

   Cream.

6. Flesh

   The flesh is brittle, light.

7. Edibility

   Conditionally edible mushroom of the 4th category. Used after 20 minutes of boiling.

8. Habitat and Distribution

   It grows from mid-April to late May, in deciduous forests, with hornbeams, ashes, maples, poplars, on soils rich in organic matter, on soil, among moss, alone and in small groups, it is rare.

Morchella crassipes Look-Alikes

1. Morchella steppicola

   Grows in steppes, meadows, not forests.

2. Morchella esculenta and Morchella vulgaris

   Have smaller fruit bodies.

Morchella crassipes Synonyms

1. Phallus crassipes Vent., 1797

2. Phalloboletus crassipes (Ventenat) Kuntze, 1891

3. Mitrophora hybrida var. crassipes (Vent.) Boud., 1897

4. Morchella esculenta var. crassipes (Vent.) Bresinsky & Stangl, 1962

Sources:

Photo 1 - Author: schwammerlt (Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International)

Photo 2 - Author: mantas1986 (Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International)

Photo 3 - Author: endrew (Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International)

Photo 4 - Author: filipfuljer (Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International)