25 keen morel hunters attended this foray in a lush, sheltered valley in the Smokies. A warm February had portended an early spring, but March had some relatively cooler spells with ample rainfall so we felt the timing should be about right. The day started cloudy, but a risk of rain did not materialise and we collected for 2 ½ hours in very pleasant conditions among the abundant wildflowers. At lunch we tallied our finds. Five people scored zero’s (the foray leader included), but several others found 10 or more, and we ended up with a more-than-respectable count of exactly 100 morels – all “yellows” (Morchella americana).
People had kept their eyes open for other fungi too and we found 13 species (not counting the morels) listed below. Nice finds were Verpa conica, a non-edible morel relative which we see only rarely, and Pluteus atromarginatus, a first record for the club. This proved easy to identify because the free pinkish gills that pronounced it as a Pluteus had, as the epithet suggests, distinctly dark edges.
Charlotte Caplan
Species List:
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Cerioporus squamosus (= Polyporus squamosus) |
Dryad’s Saddle |
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Cerioporus leptocephala (= Polyporus elegans) |
Black-footed or Elegant Polypore |
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Ganoderma tsugae |
Hemlock Varnish Shelf |
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Lenzites betulina |
Gilled Polypore |
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Morchella americana |
American Yellow Morel |
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Pleurotus ostreatus |
Oyster mushroom |
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Pluteus atromarginatus |
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Pluteus sp. (prob. either P. cervinus or P. petastatus) |
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Psathyrella pseudovernalis |
Spring Brittlestem |
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Stereum ostrea |
False Turkey Tail |
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Trametes versicolor |
Turkey Tail |
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Trichaptum biforme |
Violet Toothed Polypore |
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Urnula craterium |
Devil’s Urn |
|
Verpa conica |
Smooth Thimble mushroom |