2019

Forests are Full of Saddle-shaped False Morels

This year, nature generously demonstrates the fruiting bodies or apothecia of the saddle-shaped false morels (Gyromítra ínfula) in Latvia's forests. Its fruiting bodies are slow-growing, long-growing and long-lasting, and can be spotted from late August to the beginning of stable frost, mostly in September and October.

The saddle-shaped false morel is also known as the bishop's hat. This title is not given for religious reasons, but for its visual feature, namely, the mushroom apothecary hat is, to some extent, very much like the headpiece of the highest priest of the Christian church, though much wrinkled. The shape of the cap is varied, always irregular, usually asymmetrically lobed, often saddle-shaped. The surface of the cap is mostly wavy crocheted, its colour is chestnut or cinnamon brown, it looks waxy. The structure of the hat is fragile. The hat can be up to 15 cm high and up to 10 cm wide. The bottom of the hat is always folded and more or less grown together with its stem.

The length of the stem of a mushroom can reach up to 10 cm, but its thickness usually does not exceed 3 cm. If the stem does not hide in the moss blanket too much, it can be seen that it is lighter than the cap, cylindrical, lowered at the base. Usually the stem is more or less ribbed, often slightly flattened or curved.

When describing mushrooms, it is customary to sort them into edible and non-edible. Most Latvian authors include saddle-shaped false morels into edible mushrooms that can be eaten after cooking. In turn, many foreign sources have rated the saddle-shaped false morels as “poisonous” or even “very poisonous”.

The chemical properties of these mushrooms have not yet been sufficiently researched, so for safety's sake, it is better to capture these mushrooms in a camera rather than in a basket.

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Saddle-shaped false morels

When looking for saddle-shaped false morels, remember that they like moss-rich conifers and mixed forests. Wet areas are preferred. Often these mushrooms can be found in areas of old fireplaces and burn-out areas. The abundant presence of dead wood (old stumps, fallen trees, dead tree trunks and trunks) in the areas selected for mushrooming significantly increases search results, since saddle-shaped false morels belong to saprotrophic organisms and therefore feed on dead organic matter, mainly from rotten wood.