[mushroom mary]

I found a morel oddity today; a morel growing way a top a very old downed tree (log) all by itself. I can't say that I've ever seen a morel growing on a log before with no soil.

[Morel Doctor]

I like it when that happens... he he, hummmmmmmm

can you see the cut line?

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[Dave W]

Wow! That is unusual. Apparently the mycelium must have spread from the ground up onto the log. I have seen an example of Suillus pictus -the eastern Painted Bolete, which is mycorrhizal with White Pine- growing from the bark of a living oak tree.

[Evan]

I took a friend out with me after work today. We only found 13, and most were in one patch. We are expecting rain tomarrow, but then slightly cooler temps this weekend. We'll see what comes up. Oh, I let him take the mushrooms home, that way he'll have proof for his wife that we weren't at Appallachian Brewing Co. We had planned a story for me to tell her, but I'm too nice.

[Merkel Man]

Morel Doctor, on 15 April 2010 - 12:38 AM, said:

I like it when that happens... he he, hummmmmmmm
.

Hey MD (or anyone)... Why do you suppose this happens? Is the mycelium decomposing the log? Or is it just that it happens to be in the way of the mycelium and a viable medium?

Someone over at the CMS board mentioned it and I thought it was an intriguing question as I've been finding them on moss covered boulders, sometimes without an apparent host.

link to cms thread

I linked to this thread referencing your photo. Love to hear your thoughts.

[Evan]

Maybe if the host dies, or is unavailable for some reason, the mycelium spreads out searching for a new host, then fruits when none is found.

[Feral Boy]

THEY'RE HERE!!!

Hunting with my mother-in-law near Sullivan, Indiana this morning ... even found blacks.

Look for water ... and dead elms. And shade.









Going out after lunch with Donna, back of her aunt's house. Flat there, she can use her walker.
Great to be out there together again!

[Morel Doctor]

Feral Boy;

Great hunting shots, good luck this afternoon.

I'm going to check a 2009 burnsite today.



Merkel Man;

If I recall correctly I posted these small Fuzzy Fire Morels on your former site discussion board a few years ago, if so I possibly explained there about them.

For now I am letting folks here enjoy arriving at their own conclusion about those fuzzy morels on a log.



... Conclusions vs. Contusions ...

For those who may have just come upon these photos, the photograph below was taken prior to placing the morels on the log, at the time I was only attempting to get a close-up shot on a firm backdrop.

I never said they were growing from the log.

*****

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[Dave W]

Yo MD, I tried the link but could not find any hypothesis about the morels on logs.

My guess is that the mycelium just travels up the log as though it was soil. In the case of the Fire Morels, I think the mycelium with those types becomes very aggressive. I believe I can remember a discussion we had about this awhile back... how the Fire Morel patches eventually spread into areas far away from the trees that would have presumably been the hosts. Perhaps the burnt soil -which I believe would have a heightened ph- is such a favorable medium for the mycelium that it just goes wild. Certainly the duration of the Fire Morel fruiting cycle is very long (months) as compared with the 4-6 weeks we get here.

Here in the east the forest morels (Naturals) seem to do best in areas where there is limestone. Funny though... I took some soil samples a few years back and the ph levels in the good morel spots were not very high. Maybe I need to be more careful to get the soil from very close to a limestone deposit. My friend Berit has been foraging with me lately, and he's got a bit of a geology background. I think we should try to get a couple soil samples from right nearby some limestone.

[Evan]

OK, I think there must be some higher power. We were working on the new house today. We worked on the deck railing so that we don't lose our homeowners insurance. Then we were tearing up the subfloor when we realized that we needed to take out the entire kitchen floor and replace everything. At that point I started feeling frustrated, so I went out for a walk in the woods. We have tulip poplars in the woods by us, so I went out wandering and looking at the ground. I came upon this very preseason morel. It is about time for blacks to really get going here, but this one threw me for a loop. The yellows normally start in May. By the way, this was about 60 yrds from the front door of my new house.

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[Feral Boy]

Saturday: Fried morels, asparagus, teriyaki steak, fresh strawberries & pineapple

Tonight: Morel pizza -- blacks & yellows on a Jack's cheese pizza, Penzey's Italian Sprinkle, shallot salt and garlic powder
May Wine (sort of) -- sparkling red grape juice, sliced strawberries, and sweet woodruff -- on ice

[Dave W]

Not a top-notch year for the blacks around nhere. Hot sunny weather brought the soil temp up too soon. Numbers are down, up here in NE PA, and it looks to be much the same down in S PA. Karen and I visited Evan, and we were joined by Zora for some morel foraging. We didn't exactly fill up our bags, but wandering with friends all day long through the woods on a sunny 60 degree spring day has no down-side. Brought home just about enough morels to bake a couple quiches. I have some wild fiddleheads in the fridge, and a few of our aspagagus spears have just been picked... probably down to 25 F around here tonight. Don't know what these flowers are... saw them down there in S PA.


Made a bunch of pizzas with variable amounts of morels added to the toppings. For a full report check the link.


http://www.mushroomh...?showtopic=1842

[easternWA]

My wife and I found a few in Spokane yesterday. Just getting started.

[zora]

Okay, I could do about 6 quiche! If I put one morel in each :-( ha.... So how was the rest of the day? We have been giving our horse manure away and I just coaxed the guy who was taking it to give me a hint of where to look out here. Would you believe they are finding them right down the road? Guess where I will be looking this week. I know they are here somewhere.........

[Evan]

The rest of the day was great. Too bad you left. We found almost as many after lunch as before. I think my total was about 20 all day. It was still a great day with Zora, Dave and Karen.

Hit a peach orchard today with my stepdad and friend. We found 137 esculentas. The problem was that they were not the big esculentas that you would think. A lot of them were an inch or less, and some were even drying out.