Morchella esculenta
Its not widely know that Australia has a handful of native and introduced morels (Morchella) species. I am fortunate to have found a yellow morel Probably a member of the Morchella esculenta cluster. I found them locally growing by a river under small leaf privet, ferns and rain forest regen, they fruit from sandy loam. I’ve found them two years in a row after a wet period in September or early October. Recently i have seen some photos of a similar species from a bit further north. I think its likely that the yellow morels are reasonably common in this part of the country.
Morchella species ready to fry
Morels are one of the worlds most sought after gourmet mushroom. I was well pleased that my find has great taste and texture when cooked, in my opinion this rules out M. rufobrunnea as a possibility. We sent some away for DNA analysis but unfortunately we were unable to get a result. I am hopeful to find some more this season so I can try again. A quick search on the Atlas of living Australia yields over twenty records from Australia from the esculenta group. Some in southern Queensland, others further south in NSW and Victoria.
Update: I have got DNA results back on these morels, the results were a 98% percent match for Morchella palazonii a new species from Spain. A 98% match is a long way from being the same species and the consensus with my morels are that they are probably a new species. I now have a contact in France for a morel expert who actually did the work on naming Morchella palazonii so I hope to send him a sample this year. Last season was a bust and I only collected about ten so heres hoping that this season is better!
