Black morel
Morchella importuna · 黑脉羊肚菌
Rare羊肚菌科🔥 Edible With Preparation
Sources report it requires expert processing before it can be eaten; cases of poisoning from improper handling have been recorded.
The same species can be described differently across regions and stages of maturity, and countless look-alike species cannot be told apart by eye. Never use the information on this page to judge whether a real mushroom is safe to eat.
How to Tell
- Cap dark brown to black, with vertical ridges like a ladder
- Cap fused to the stem, entirely hollow inside
- Grows in spring on wood chips, flower beds, and urban green spaces
ID notes are compiled by AI from public sources, not reviewed by a mycologist, for learning only — never a basis for foraging.
Basics
- Family
- 羊肚菌科
- Hymenium
- Ridges
- Grows On
- Soil
- How Big
- 3–10 cm (overall size)
- Encounter Rate
- Rare
- Habitat
- Cultivated fields and woodland edges
Easily Confused With
MorelCap honeycomb-like, covered in irregular pits
False morelBlack morel's cap has ladder-like vertical ridges; false morel is irregularly brain-like and wrinkled.
Early morelBlack morel's cap has honeycomb-like vertical ridges; early morel's cap is wrinkled, not honeycombed.Fun Fact
This is the leading species grown in China's field-cultivated morel industry; 'black-veined' refers to the vertical ridges darkening as it matures.
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