THE MOREL
Morchella esculenta
In decided contrast to any of the foregoing fungi, and of unmistakable aspect, is the famous Morel, Morchella esculenta (Plate 32).
Botanical characters
The Morel belongs to a cohort of fungi known as the Sporidiifera, in which the spores are enclosed in bag-like envelopes, in distinction to the Sporifera, in which the spores are naked and exposed, as shown in Plates [35] and [36]. These cysts, or bags, or asci, which resemble the cystidium in Plate 35, and in the family of Ascomycetes, to which the Morel belongs, each contains about eight spores, which are finally liberated by the bursting of the tip of the bag, after the manner of a Puff-ball.
In the Morel the hymenium or spore-bearing surface is crowded with these cysts, and covers the entire exposed conical and pitted surface of the mushroom.
Description is hardly necessary with its portrait before us. No other fungus at all resembles it except those of the same genus, and inasmuch as they are all edible, we may safely add to our bill of fare any fungus which resembles our illustration. The Morel has long been considered as one of the rarest of delicacies, always at a fancy premium in the markets—a bon-mot for the rich, a prize for the peasant. I could fill all my allotted space with the delicate schemes of the chefs in its preparation for the table.
PLATE XXXII
THE MOREL