Morchella rufobrunnea, the blushing morel, is a saprotrophic morel of disturbed and urban ground, described from Veracruz, Mexico, in 1998. It belongs to the early-diverging /Rufobrunnea lineage, sister to M. anatolica, and its surface often bruises orange to pinkish. It is the morel grown by the Ower cultivation process patented in the 1980s and is named as the commercially cultivated morel in America.
Edible when thoroughly cooked; opinions on flavor range from bland to excellent. Raw morels are poisonous. Look-alikes: Gyromitra (false morels) have wrinkled, brain-like caps with a chambered interior; Verpa caps attach only at the stem apex and the stem contains cottony tissue. Slice each morel lengthwise to confirm one continuous hollow.
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Habitat
Saprotrophic in disturbed soil and landscaping wood chips, often in urban or suburban sites such as fire pits, compost piles, logging roads and basements. Fruits mainly in spring; an Israeli ecotype fruits from November to May. In the Mediterranean it has been found under olive trees.
Distribution
North America: Mexico (type locality, Veracruz), California and Oregon; possibly introduced to central Michigan. Also Cyprus, Malta, Switzerland, Israel and Australia.
Characteristics
Fruit body: Typically 9-15.5 cm tall (range 6-21 cm). Cap: 6-12 cm high, 2-6 cm wide; dark grey with sharply contrasting beige to buff ridges when young, fading to ochraceous-buff or yellowish with age; often bruising brownish orange to pinkish. Stem: Often strongly wrinkled, with a dark brown to greyish coating that may fade; hollow. Spores: Deposit pale orange to yellowish orange; mature ascospores 20-24 x 14-16 um. Key features: Pale ridges over a grey cap when young; blushing bruises; in wood chips or disturbed urban soil.
Difficulty
Advanced
Substrates
Nutrient-poor soil mixed with spawn, layered over nutrient-rich soil (Ower process)
