I'm in Middle Tenessee near the Alabama border. Every year i'll find five or six false Morels along with the real ones. I have been finding, picking and eating them since i was a kid. I'm talking about the ones that look almost exactly like Morels. Except for the fact that when you cut them in half, they are shaped like an umbrella instead of being one long mushroom that connects at the base of the honey comb top, like the real ones. I do not recommend to others to do it, and i don't let my 15 year old son eat them. He can decide that when he is an adult. I did some research on the falseys, and from what i understand, you would have to eat ten a day for ten years for them to be toxic. Hell i wish i could lol, it would be worth it. Just kidding. In my opinion, they are meaty and delicious just like the real ones and i, nor my family has had any adverse effects from eating them. I was wondering what other shroomers thoughts are on this subject. Do you eat them, or do you pass?
Your finds sound like a half free morel. Edible. Google images. False Morels or Gyromitras are NOT hollow, instead have folds and a cottony substance within. Some 'ol timey folks render 'em, boil and throw out the water, repeat. These fumes are dangerous in an enclosed kitchen. Generally considered by mycologists to be dangerous and unsafe. Said to build up toxins in your liver, and then 1 spoon too many, you done kilt over.
Lol, thanks for the input Casper. Yeah i heard that too. Maybe all the alcohol i drink will keep it flushed out of my system. But i guess the ones i eat are not false, but just a different kind of Morel. They look almost exactly like them. In photos ive' seen the false ones look nothing like the real ones. These look almost exactly like the real ones but have the umbrella shape instead of being connected at the base of the head. And they grow right along side of the, hmm what do i call them, the bonified ones.
I personally would not eat false morels, but I know some people have eaten them all their adult lives. Mabey you are confusing them with peckerheads, they are true morels also.
Ive found a photo of the two kinds i find in the woods behind my house. Hopefully this works, i havn't tried this since last year.
However, i must say, as of yet i havn't found a single one this year. By this time last year i was finishing my harvest if i remember correctly. Iv'e read stories where people have found Morels in the same spot for ten years then one year they are just gone. Hopefully that is not what is happening in my spot. I am in Tennessee near the Alabama border by the way I was in Cannon county the other day and i looked for about an hour in what looked like a prime location, and i found nothing there either. I think it's just been too cold. And the dry conditions are probably not helping.
