Morel Mushroom (Morchella Conica)

(morel mushroom found at wikimedia commons under creative commons)

 One of the coolest fungi among us. The Morel Mushroom looks like a vascular work of art that pops up in areas across Alabama. These fungi are edible believe it or not. Sometimes fungi which is out of the ordinary has poisonous consequences with eating. Not this one, it's edible and considered to be a culinary rarity.

The Morel or Morchella mushroom is a delicacy to some small birds around. They like munching on these fine mushrooms. Those who know about the mushroom slice, bread and fry them. In parts of the East, they call the fried mushrooms "Hickory Chickens". The cousin to this fungus grows in Germany and is called a Yellow Morel
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Real Morels are cup shaped like this one above, and those that you see that are off colored and differently shaped are called, "False Morels"  Some are purple and other colors that aren't the Morel yellow or brown color above. The nasty "False Morels" latin names are Ascomycota mushrooms. They are extremely poisonous, brightly colored and has less spores than the Morel Mushroom.  Some mushrooms in the latin name have caused humans to form the pneumonia virus and other illnesses.

There are sites where you can buy dried Morel mushrooms dried. Amazon.com sells Morel Mushrooms dried for almost 25$