Southwest part of Mo.

I would never eat false morels, aka Gyromitras. They are not "reds," as in another variety of morel that is red in color. They are a completely different species that just happens to vaguely resemble morels, and fruits under similar conditions.

Some people may be able to eat them and not get sick, however some people do die. And there are also unknown longterm effects. My position is: why risk it? There are plenty of other mushrooms that are perfectly safe to eat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyromitra_esculenta

@Terrysapp

That's great, Terry, go ahead and knock yourself out. But they can be dangerous to eat to for somebody who doesn't know any better reading this message board and thinking they are just another type of morel. They are absolutely not.

I linked to wikipedia because it's simple to find and read, but I have several mycological books that say the same thing. There's a reason every responsible news story about morels mentions the differences identifying morels and gyromitras (false morels).

Eat them all you want, I could care less. I just want the info out there for people, especially inexperienced people, that they need to be cautious and know exactly what they are doing when identifying, collecting and preparing mushrooms.