What a fungi

NN6106 Earl Plato

Nature club member, Norm Rouse, gave me a magazine. Ontario Out of Doors , and on page 28 is a great photo of that tasty fungi, the morel. I am always on the lookout for local fungi at Marcy Woods or Shagbark Trail. I have never seen any morels there. But I did, not far from Niagara Falls and what a sight! I’ll never forget it. We were on Navy Island above the Falls with the late Gene Muma. This trip was an historical one. Bud, Gene and his dog Buddy and I were looking for evidence of boat slips. Navy Island was held by the British Navy in the late 1750’s to help control the waters of Lake Erie. They built sailing war vessels there. This was on the east side of the island and we were looking for places along the shoreline where some of these war ships could be hauled up for winter storage. Remember these were not very large vessels, That’s where this article really begins. After docking at a sandy spot on the north east side we walked south along the shore. Gene Muma, whom I have called “Mr. Navy Island” deservedly so because of his many years of intimate knowledge of this Canadian island. Gene led the way. There they were! I had never seen so many in one place in the Niagara peninsula. There was a host of Morels (Morchella). Do you know what these delectable fungi look like? They have a honey-comb like surface some say (brain-like) with dark ridges and lighter pits. If you have seen a real morel you wouldn’t forget it.. Forty mature morels on Navy Island? I would say at least that many. No, we didn’t have any bags for collection. Yes, we found what we believed was a slip for hauling a British navy wooden vessel for storage and repair.
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How do you describe the shape of a morel? I have been with naturalists who have shown me the many shapes of our other fleshy fruiting fungi. There are some - umbrellas, skirts, cones, stools, trumpets, clubs, oysters, and balls. I would put the morel in the cone (brain) shape Note: Avoid false morels (Gyromita) eaten in Europe but listed as poisonous in North America. I have never seen one but here is a brief description: Its cap is rusty to dark brown, irregular and brain-shaped. It hangs from a free stalk. The late Joe Holler of Sherkston once ate a false morel in Northern Ontario. He thought that it was edible like the ones back in his native Austria. He almost died. Message: Don’t take chances. Know your mushrooms.