Nonetheless, there are some practical guidelines that can help boost chances of success in morel hunting.
What are morel mushrooms?
Morels have been on Earth at least 129 million years, dating back to when dinosaurs dominated the land. Distinguished by their spongey-looking, pitted surface and ranging from pale and slender to dark brown and cone-like, morels belong to the fungal genus Morchella. There are about 100 different types: Some common species include white morels (Morchella americana) and half-free morels (Morchella punctipes).
Indigenous people worldwide historically have harvested the fungus, according to a comprehensive U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report, but they were not universally admired. At least one early taster, the American explorer Meriwether Lewis, called morels “truly an insipid tasteless food” in 1806—though, to be fair, he ate them “without salt pepper or grease.”
Fans of the famous fungi disagree with Lewis, prizing them for their nutty, woodsy flavor. Dried and fresh morel varieties can be found in markets and online, though they often fetch high prices, adding to the allure of foraging.
These fungi can be found anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere where there are forests that get cold weather, according to the USDA. But they also grow in parts of the Southern Hemisphere, documented in the Patagonian forests of Argentina and northwestern Australia.