Morel mushrooms are some of the most unusual-looking mushrooms you will ever see! Instead of a smooth cap like most mushrooms, morels have a bumpy, wrinkly cap that looks like a tiny brown sponge or a honeycomb full of little holes. They are usually tan, brown, or yellowish and can be as small as your thumb or as tall as a banana. Morels are very tricky to find because their color makes them blend right in with the dead leaves and sticks on the forest floor. They like to grow near certain trees, especially old apple trees, elm trees, and ash trees.
Morels are one of the most special mushrooms because they only pop up for a few short weeks in the springtime and then disappear until the next year. That is why so many people love to go “morel hunting” in the woods every spring, like a big treasure hunt! Morels are considered very fancy and delicious, and some restaurants pay a lot of money for them. But remember: you should NEVER pick or eat any wild mushroom unless a grown-up who really knows about mushrooms says it is safe, because some poisonous mushrooms can look similar to morels. Scientists have tried for a long time to grow morels on farms, but these tricky mushrooms prefer to grow wild in nature!
