ANN ARBOR—As spring begins, people throughout Michigan are pitching tents and setting up trailers in wooded area. But once they sense that they are being watched, they duck and hide. Are they campers? No. They’re morel hunters, searching for the tasty mushrooms in any place they can find them.

People travel from all over to find the widely eaten mushroom. They want them either for personal consumption or for selling. Often growing in old apple orchards and under dying elms for the short two- to three-week season beginning in the end of April through May, depending upon weather conditions, these delectable fungi are considered as valuable as precious metals or gems.

“People absolutely love morels,” said Ellen Weatherbee, a University of Michigan botanist who teaches classes at U-M Matthaei Botanical Gardens in morels. “They’ll come from Indiana and Illinois to mushroom hunt because it’s a big business that’s quite competitive,” Weatherbee said.

Morels can most commonly be found from mid Michigan to the Upper Peninsula. But they can be found just about anywhere that’s moist and under trees where they get their nutrients.

“I go to old elm trees, around the Huron River, and also drive around looking for old orchards,” Weatherbee said. “You just have to be aware of trees that are dying because that’s were the morels commonly grow.”

But many different types of morels exist, some that are tasty and others that can make you sick.

Early morels come out at the end of April and shouldn’t be eaten because they can cause upset stomachs. The early ones have a filled stem that looks like cotton batting, unlike true morels that have hollow stems. The cap sits on the top of the stem and looks “like a stocking cap pulled down around your face with little pits and valleys,” Weatherbee said. Early morels can be found on the edges of swamps, under cottonwood trees and aspens.

The dark brownish black morels arrive in late April and early May. “They look like a chocolate Easter bunny that’s hollow inside,” Weatherbee said. “A lot of people really enjoy the black morels, but they need to be really fresh.” Black morels have hollow stems and their caps do not sit on the top of the stem. Instead it comes back down and hooks to the stem.

“But the ones that people really want to eat are the white morels that are usually found in the second to third week of May,” Weatherbee said. White morels, that are actually light tan, can be found under dead elms and old apple trees. “Our springs are warming up earlier so it wouldn’t hurt to start looking at the end of April, first week of May,” Weatherbee said.

People who hunt for morels are cautious when coming across the larger false morels. “They contain a substance that’s similar to rocket fuel and can grow as big as a baseball unlike the other symmetrical morels,” Weatherbee said. Eating false morels have cumulative effects that could lead to hospitalization. Similar to the early morels, they are also filled with tissue instead of having a hollow inside. False morels are found generally in moist areas around small ponds.

Weatherbee gives helpful tips for preparing black and white morels. First, they should be cut open to make sure the mushroom is hollow on the inside. Then clean out any bugs. When frying morels, do not let them soak in water first, which diminishes their flavor.

In addition to being careful when cooking and eating morels, beware of other morel hunters. “The first time I collected morels in Michigan, I saw a lady doing something funny with her feet, and she was purposely doing a dance to smash 30 to 50 morels so I couldn’t see them,” Weatherbee said. “People try to remain illusive when hunting. They really don’t like you in their patch of land.”

EDITORS: For more information on morels, contact Ellen Weatherbee at work (734) 998-7061 or home (734) 878-9178.

Related Links:

• Matthaei Botanical Gardens