Hunting Washington Forum

Other Activities => Other Adventures => Topic started by: Birdgetter on May 09, 2022, 02:36:50 PM

Title: Light Colored Morels
Post by: Birdgetter on May 09, 2022, 02:36:50 PM: Hey everyone, here’s a picture of two morels picked in the same spot. From the Goldendale area. Does anyone know what causes the difference in color? Maybe pianoman could help me out. (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220509/e8b7ed7648f1c58a77f63a73b7104646.jpg)

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Title: Re: Light Colored Morels
Post by: Buckhunter24 on May 09, 2022, 02:40:09 PM: Tagging along for answers i found some light ones the other day and was wondering too
Title: Re: Light Colored Morels
Post by: pianoman9701 on May 09, 2022, 02:42:54 PM: These can both be morchella family, either morchella esculenta or morchella snyderi. The same species can produce different colors.
Title: Re: Light Colored Morels
Post by: NRA4LIFE on May 09, 2022, 03:57:43 PM: Those look kind of like the yellow morels we found back in Missouri. I believe most out here are blacks.
Title: Re: Light Colored Morels
Post by: pianoman9701 on May 09, 2022, 04:00:02 PM: Quote from: NRA4LIFE on May 09, 2022, 03:57:43 PM
Those look kind of like the yellow morels we found back in Missouri. I believe most out here are blacks.

Most are black, but there are a lot of blondes, especially early in the season and around orchards.
Title: Re: Light Colored Morels
Post by: pickardjw on May 09, 2022, 04:43:48 PM: Found some sprouting in the RV park this weekend...they were more of a gray, sickly looking color. Definitely not any I was interested in picking!
Title: Re: Light Colored Morels
Post by: pianoman9701 on May 10, 2022, 02:03:53 PM: Quote from: pickardjw on May 09, 2022, 04:43:48 PM
Found some sprouting in the RV park this weekend...they were more of a gray, sickly looking color. Definitely not any I was interested in picking!

You missed out. Morchella tomentosa/grey morel has the most intense flavor of all morels.
Title: Re: Light Colored Morels
Post by: MtnMuley on May 10, 2022, 03:21:15 PM: 90% of the time the grays are the last Morels to pop in my areas. Find blondes through the season, usually more towards the beginning of the season.
Title: Re: Light Colored Morels
Post by: pickardjw on May 15, 2022, 05:16:50 PM: Quote from: pianoman9701 on May 10, 2022, 02:03:53 PM
Quote from: pickardjw on May 09, 2022, 04:43:48 PM
Found some sprouting in the RV park this weekend...they were more of a gray, sickly looking color. Definitely not any I was interested in picking!

You missed out. Morchella tomentosa/grey morel has the most intense flavor of all morels.

Being right next to the black water connection point was definitely a factor in my decision :chuckle:
Title: Re: Light Colored Morels
Post by: pianoman9701 on May 15, 2022, 05:37:35 PM: Good call! :tup:
Title: Re: Light Colored Morels
Post by: 270Flat on May 15, 2022, 09:02:23 PM: We find both black and blonde in the same spots. We have been out a few times but it all seems like it’s at least two weeks behind normal years. Went out today and found lots of fresh blondes and a real boomer. Biggest to date since we’ve been foraging.
Can’t post pics for some reason.
Title: Re: Light Colored Morels
Post by: 270Flat on May 15, 2022, 09:06:56 PM: Pic
Title: Re: Light Colored Morels
Post by: NRA4LIFE on May 15, 2022, 09:12:44 PM: Wait, looks like a long arm! Nice find.
Title: Re: Light Colored Morels
Post by: 270Flat on May 15, 2022, 09:16:57 PM: He’s a fisherman so knows the long arm trick! 😂 no long arm on this one.
Definitely a big shroom that’ll eat delicious.
Title: Re: Light Colored Morels
Post by: Okanagan on May 16, 2022, 10:12:44 AM: Quote from: pianoman9701 on May 10, 2022, 02:03:53 PM
Quote from: pickardjw on May 09, 2022, 04:43:48 PM
Found some sprouting in the RV park this weekend...they were more of a gray, sickly looking color. Definitely not any I was interested in picking!

You missed out. Morchella tomentosa/grey morel has the most intense flavor of all morels.

Yep, picked a lot of grey morels when we lived in south central British Columbia. They are delicious and IME tended to be the largest size. As known, there is often a big crop of morels in the first year after a forest fire, but in the fine silica dirt where I found most of them, I could never get the grit out of them. The post fire morels tended to be black colored ones.

One year a friend’s horse pasture was covered with large, hefty weight grey morels, gunny sacks of them over a good five acres alongside a small river. We should have tried to find a place to sell them. The next year there were only two or three morels in the same place. Like many of you, I had certain places where I could count on finding morels every spring. Am having to start over finding such spots in WA! :dunno: 8)