Black morel or Morchella crassipes

Cap conical or narrowly egg-shaped, 4–8 cm tall and 2–4 cm wide. The surface is covered with elongated lengthwise ridges and cross-ribs that form deep vertical pits. Color from dark brown to blackish on the ridges and gray in the pits.

The cap large: 5-15 cm across, 8-20 cm tall, egg-shaped to elongated-conical. The surface has clear honeycomb pits separated by yellowish ridges. Color honey-yellow, ochre-brown, dark brown in old mushrooms. The cap is fused to the stem along its whole length (a key trait of a true morel — unlike Verpa, whose cap hangs freely). There is a single inner cavity, with no partitions.

The hymenophore is the same as in the common morel: the spore-bearing layer lines the pits of the cap. The mostly elongated pits run vertically, which distinguishes the black morel from the common morel with its more irregular pits.

The hymenophore covers the inner surface of the pits (as in all Pezizales/Morchellaceae). Asci with spores mature in the pits. Spore print yellowish to light ochre.

Stem 3–8 cm tall, 1.5–3 cm thick, hollow, cylindrical or slightly ribbed. White or cream. Surface uneven, slightly granular. Cap and stem are hollow and fused together.

Stem thick and fleshy: 5-15 cm tall, 2-5 cm thick at the top, and at the bottom widening to 4-8 cm, like a "barrel". Surface lengthwise ribbed and furrowed, whitish-cream, light ochre with age. Hollow inside, the cavity joined to the cap's cavity. In old mushrooms the stem may be wrinkled.

Flesh brittle, waxy, hollow inside. Pale cream. Taste delicate and pleasant after cooking. The raw mushroom is potentially toxic.

Flesh thin (about 3-5 mm), waxy, white to yellowish, brittle. Does not change color when cut. Pleasant mushroomy aroma and taste.

Smell pleasant, subtle, earthy, somewhat like the forest floor in spring. It holds and deepens when stewed. A classic spring woodland aroma.

Pleasant, mild, mushroomy, faintly nutty. One of the most delicate aromas among spring mushrooms. The taste is refined and meaty.