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Common Morel
Edible 
Spring 
A very tasty mushroom but as with all Morels it must be well cooked before consumption.
This mushroom has gone through some scientific name changes and was Morchella vulgaris, now it has been added to the Morels, Morchella esculenta, but we are keeping it as Common Morel as it will probably be added back to the Common Morel group at some point.
| Mushroom Type | |
| Common Names | Common Morel (EN), Gray Morel (US), Sötét Kucsmagomba (HU) |
| Scientific Name | Morchella vulgaris |
| Synonyms | Morchella esculenta var. vulgaris |
| Season Start | Mar |
| Season End | May |
| Average Mushroom height (CM) | 20 |
| Average Cap width (CM) | 15 |
Cap
Conical or ovate with a network of irregular ridges and pits arranged like labyrinths. The pits usually aren’t has polygonal shaped (honeycomb like) as the ones of the Yellow Morel. The cap is hollow and joined to the stem at its edge.
The cap usually remains grey to dark grey for a long time before becoming paler, light brown or ochraceous grey, or occasionally creamy white. The ridges are thick and lighter coloured, specially white when young
The Common Morel is highly variable so size and colour can vary greatly within this particular mushroom.
Stem
White/cream, more or less hollow, with uneven furrows run vertically up the stem.
It’s usually much thicker towards the base in a shape that is often compared to an elephant foot.
Flesh
Fairly thin and white on the inside. With a faint pleasant smell that intensifies after drying.
Habitat
Woodland, pastures, gardens, wasteland, on verges and even on dunes. Usually under trees or associated with woody plants. It seems to have a preference for poor alkaline soils such as chalk and limestone.
Possible Confusion
The False Morel, pictured, but this is more lobed or brain-like rather than the pitted and honeycomb like cap of the morel. The False Morel also differs in not having a completely hollow cap.
The Black Morel can look similar, even in colour when young, but usually the ridges are arranged in fairly regular vertical lines, unlike the irregular pits of the Common Morel. The ridges on the Black Morel also become darker than the rest of the cap with age, unlike the paler ridges of the Common Morel.
The Morel is very closely related, it is more yellow in colour from an early stage. The Morel has thinner edges and polygonal shaped pits looking more honeycomb like than the labyrinthic pits of the Common Morel. Intermediate forms exist that may be hard to differentiate. The Common Morel (Morchella vulgaris), is actually part of the “Morels” group. The “Morels” are a large group (technically called a clade or section) of very similar species, and mycologists still haven’t established exactly how many species exist, their distribution, and how they differ from each other. The forager shouldn’t worry about precise distinction as all Morels seem to be excellent edibles.
Spore Print
Pale cream to yellow. Ellipsoid.
Taste / Smell
Very good but requires thorough cleaning to remove mud, debris and insects. A good mushroom to dehydrate. Must be well cooked before consumption. All Morels are poisonous when raw or undercooked causing gastric upsets and other alarming symptoms.
Frequency
Uncommon find.
Other Facts
While highly sought after, this can be a difficult mushroom to go out looking for and is usually found accidentally while looking for other edibles.
Although there are recipes at the bottom of the page the Common Morel is such a delicious and hard to find mushroom that it is best simply cooked in butter and seasoned. As pointed out above it just needs to be well cooked, so no lightly tossed Morels.
37 comments for Common Morel
Very informative. I absolutely love the morel.
Its been years since I’ve tasted one.
I want to go hunting. Know of any spots near Sioux City IA
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We’re based in Hereford, UK, so can’t help much I’m afraid..
Just learnt about these. Are they found all across the UK? Thanks
Hi Baz94, they can be found around the UK but are not common, the Black Morel seems to be the most common now growing in the wood chip around some superstores.
Last year my daughter spotted a morel patch while we were out walking, can’t wait to revisit our ‘secret’ spot this spring!
excellent site. so happy i have found you while now adventuring into foraging. thank you for all your hard work team.
Where are Morel mushrooms likely to be found in Devon UK?
Morels like growing with elm trees but will grow with other species, black morels can be found growing in woodchip around garden centres and industrial estates but morels are very elusive and I don’t find them every year.
Dartmoor is our beacon for wild mushrooms, just be careful lots of verities but a lot of poisonous as well.
I live in Virginia and just spotted it under my apple tree. Here it is March, just like it says and there are three of them.
I found a single one growing 2 minutes walk from my house a few days ago whilst out for a walk with my family. At the time I didn’t have a clue what it was as I’ve just started foraging (I wasn’t even looking for mushrooms at the time), but I shall be paying very close attention to the area I found it and the surrounding areas in future!
We recently replanted a front bed and covered it with bark.
Today we found a beautiful Morel growing!
What great luck!
Has anyone ever found them in Kent? Would pine forests be a good place to look?
They grow all over the UK but seem very random where they will fruit, I have found them in gardens, in a gravel car park and growing in a small concrete alleyway.
Hi there
Applied a layer of bark chippings on a border last year and now there is a great crop of these mushrooms. Yehay!!
I’m in Lancaster. Sorry, I should have mentioned that!
Found them growing in the woodchip in my wooded shady garden on the clalky downs in Brighton, UK. So excited.
Hi Poppy, just discovered 8 morel mushrooms growing in our front garden in Ross, looking online to identify them and found your post, how interesting, but we shan’t eat them!
my neighbour just found loads in her front garden where she put bark chippings last year
I have discovered a clump of Morels in my garden in Hampshire UK.
Recently had an extension built and the are growing in poor soil in a south facing garden against a wall. So chuffed to see them but I won’t eat them.
Is spring the typical season for morels?
It is the only time you will find Morels.
Broadly speaking, that’s correct. But we do have a late-summer/early-autumn fruiting species in the UK, Morchella rufobrunnea, that favours the same kind of woodchip sites that M. importuna fruts from in spring. It’s rarely recorded, but with some searching, and favourable conditions, can be found.
Thanks for this article..found them under a verY old apple tree and had them identified as well….
Well. Talk about surprised! It’s 7.4 C in NE Manchester & went into our tiny back garden to put some long blocks up against the side of our tiny plastic tunnel (gr.house) . Unfortunately I knocked this morel cap very hard.
I’ve wrecked it off its stem! Never seen anything like this – we’re clay soil, Fir tree and Chestnut tree nearby. Used to have TONNES of back fence ivy until our fence fell down last year, but i wonder if the soil microbes have still retained that “goodness” making it an ambient spot for it to grow? (Photo taken of the cap, palm sized).
Filled a trench with a rotting shed door and sundry wood an old pot compost a year ago when building a pond. This year it has sprouted two beautiful brown morels. I’m going to leave them to spore. I’m in Kent
Just found a couple growing out of the old brick path in our Lincolnshire garden:)
Just saw two in a wood near us in North Somerset. First time! Aren’t they fantastic! We left them there rather than cook them.
Found some morels growing on woodchip. Positive about the ID but the caps seem very tough and woody. Could they be soaked and cooked?
Soaking them won’t do any harm.
These things are growing in my garden and I didn’t know what they were! They are growing everywhere on my flower beds. Earlier on we had ribbon/flower like yellowish strange things growing on my patio between the stone slabs and my son thought they were mushrooms. I hadn’t seen these before as well.
found three next to my compost bin amongst brick base. I’m in my mid 80’s but have only seen them once before in Tuscany. My daughter says I’m the fourth person she’s heard of that has seen them within last few days in this area( Suffolk/Essex border.).
why now? I have no wood chips.
This seems to be the best year for Morels for a long time. They don’t always come up every year and can be very hard to find. Morels that grow in woodchip are not native and only survive for a year or two. You have been lucky to find them and if the weather is right, you’ll see them again next year.
I was thrilled and surprised to find one growing in my garden among woodchip laid last summer. We have had a lot of rain this spring which will have helped. I’ve only ever seen them growing in France and know how coveted they are there. Decided to leave it in the hope it will set spores and I’ll be able to pick more next year.
You may be lucky next year but the Morel was probably the Morchella importuna which came in on imported woodchip and doesn’t really like the conditions over here so only fruits for a couple of years before never being seen again.
Hello im in Sheffield and think ive found one growing at the edge of the pathway, im worried in case its not though.. anyone free to help?
Sorry for the late reply, if you have any photos send them to admin@wildfooduk and we will try to identify them for you.