Morels are wonderfully delicious and fairly easy to identify. Their appearance in the spring occurs at a time when people are eager to resume outdoor activity. No wonder mushroom hunters take to the woods to gather this delicacy for free. Collectors are so passionate that festivals are held in northern Michigan with prizes awarded for the largest morel, the most morels, the best recipe, etc. The Boyne City Morel Festival, in the third week in May, is the biggest in Michigan.
Morels are the fruiting body of a fungus that lives in the soil.
When the soil temperature and moisture conditions are right the fungus produces morels, containing the spores of the fungus. The wind carries the spores to new habitats, where they germinate and produce a new individual of the morel fungus. The pitted, spongy cap on the white stem in the picture contains the spores. Some caps are black, gray or even white depending on the species of morel fungus. True morels are the fruiting body of a species of fungus in the genus Morchella , in the family Morchellaceae.