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Morel Question


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I wanted to ask if people had ever had any luck hunting morels in small patches of forest in more urban environments? I've recently found some good looking little woods that are in the burbs and want to give them a shot this season. Let me know if you've had luck doing this before. I've only ever hunted big woods (mostly riparian), but have never given this a shot.

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My little strip of woods is in the city of Pittsburgh. Ive found morels in 2 places within its confines. I don't believe there is more than 300 acres there. Its a U shaped stretch around my neighborhood and about a 2 mile hike around it. The one dead elm produced about 5 lbs of yellows a couple years ago.

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Once a few years back, the funeral parlor next door to the fire station where did some landscaping adding some shrubs and MULCH. A couple weeks later, after a rain, the much was loaded with morels !!! I picked 'em!.

I do know of isolated 'patches' under ONE tree. In season, it pays to always keep your eyes out especially under old apple or cherry trees. You never know where morels will pop up.

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Old Oak, do you have many elm trees in Nebraska?

Habitat and/or types of trees associated with morels varies by region and by prevalent Morchella species in that region. East of the Rockies elm trees are often associated with the large yellow/gray Morchella americana (formerly called M. esculenta, a name currently applied to European morels). In areas of the Midwest, large amounts of this type morel are often gathered under recently dead elms.

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Hey, DS. Where in Pgh do you live? I used to live there long before I ever hunted mushrooms. Wildest place was when I first moved there. Lived in Monroeville next to some woods. I didn't realize you were in PA. But, don't divulge where your mushroom patches are.

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south hills. I was working out Boyce Park last year and found some chanterelles, but I normally find mushrooms where ever I go. Ha ha I even brought a chicken mushroom home with me from Oakland one day. It was under the stairwell going down to the parking lot in panther hollow. If you know oakland at all!

I walk my dog 3 or 4 times a week through my local woods and have brought home quite a few mushrooms through out the year. Last year my big find was A. gallica honeys. Its so close to a E. abortivum (did I spell that right) spot though Im afraid they'll spoil it.

Ill check my Elm spot again this year, yet fear its seen the best of days already. The other spot is a creekside willow and it is pretty finicky. If its not too damp or too dry I may have some luck.

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Dave,

Our huge yellow and gray flushes are usually associated with riparian Cottonwood forests in Nebraska. I've recently gained access to some hilly oak woods that have some elms, but usually the woodland ones around here are around ash. Elms are pretty few and far between.

I'm definitely going to give this new to me kind of morel hunting a try and will report on my success...though we definitely have at least a few more weeks to go before they start popping. Ramps are up though so it's just a matter of time.

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Hey Doctor. I guess this means you may get to harvest morels for the next 5-6 months. The high-elevation burns often produce fire morels through September.

Wow! That's great to hear. Learn something new everyday.

Got a big one today with a few others:

bR5ikNEm.jpg

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Beginning in mid June, the Fire Morels get going in Idaho and Montana (and probably earlier in the Cascades and points to the west). Do the research. Find out about the different 2014 forest fires in Idaho, and check spots according to... elevation, NSEW ridge aspect, and types of trees in the burn. Burnt pine forests are best. Start low and work your way up as spring turns to summer. Some of the best morel hunting I have experienced was in an Idaho burn at about 6800' asl in August.

There are three main types that occur in burns... Conica, the earliest types that are part of the Black Morel group, Grays/Blondes both technically Morchella tomentosa which gets going during the summer, and "Greenies" or "Pickles" which are a late-occurring species that is a variant of one of the Conica species... at least that's what's been documented up to this point in time.

I'm guessing that the morels you're currently collecting, TSD, are "Naturals." What sorts of habitat do you hunt this early?

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Oh... okay, mulch morels. Different from either "naturals" or fire morels. Early on, morels often fruit alongside some solid structure... wood, rock, plant. The piece of solid material absorbs heat from sunlight, warms the soil nearby, and this helps the morels to pop.

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Oh... okay, mulch morels. Different from either "naturals" or fire morels. Early on, morels often fruit alongside some solid structure... wood, rock, plant. The piece of solid material absorbs heat from sunlight, warms the soil nearby, and this helps the morels to pop.

Do mulch morels have a host tree or are they ones that have come from spores or even came with the mulch?

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