Black morel or Morchella steppicola

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 fruiting body is compact, with a spherical or egg-shaped to spherical “cap”; the whole fruiting body can reach 15 cm in height, though quite small specimens occur too. The surface is uneven, with a distinct net-like honeycomb pattern of pits and irregular ridges — as in all morels. The color is grayish brown or olive brown, more yellowish in young mushrooms, darker in old ones. The inner cavity is small.

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 spore-bearing layer lines the pits of the honeycomb pattern on the outer surface. No gills, no tubes — a typical ascomycete of the order Pezizales. Spore print yellowish.

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.

The stem is thick and relatively short: 4–9 cm tall and 4–6 cm thick in large specimens, much smaller in small ones. White to cream, with characteristic lengthwise wrinkles and furrows. In mature mushrooms the stem is sometimes hidden in the soil, so only the cap is visible.

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

The flesh is white, thin, waxy and brittle. Inside the fruiting body there's a hollow, typical of morels. It doesn't change color when cut.

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

Smell faint, pleasantly mushroomy, with a note of fresh forest litter. Taste mild, not bitter.