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Key Features
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- Cap sitting on the stalk like a thimble, i.e., attached to stalk only at very top with the sides hanging free like a skirt.
- Cap without strongly projecting lobes, not saddle- shaped.
- Cap brown to yellow-brown and strongly wrinkled vertically, the wrinkles sometimes branched to form pits.
- Stalk fragile and hollow, the hollow usually stuffed with cottony material.
- Stalk without a sack or cup at base.
- Growing in the spring.
Other Features: Medium-sized; edge of cap often slightly upturned in old age; stalk relatively long when mature
Where: On ground in woods and thickets, especially in sandy soil along streams; widespread, but most common in the Pacific Northwest. The main crop is typically one to three weeks before the true morels (Morchella).
Edibility: Not recommended. The flavor is not as good as that of the true morels, and it can be poisonous if eaten often or in large amounts
Note: This mushroom is intermediate in appearance between the true morels (Morchella) and the false morels (Gyromitra). The thimble morel is similar but has a smooth to slightly wrinkled cap.
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