Kingdom Fungi Class Pezizomycetes Family Morchellaceae Scientific name Morchella tomentosa | Division Ascomycota Order Pezizales Genus Morchella Rank Species | |
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Similar Morchella rufobrunnea, Morchella snyderi, Morchella sextelata, Morchella populiphila, Morchella brunnea | ||
Morchella tomentosa, commonly called the gray, fuzzy foot, or black foot morel, is a species of fungus in the Morchellaceae family. M. tomentosa is a fire-associated species described from western North America, formally described as new to science in 2008.
Morchella tomentosa is identified by its post-fire occurrence, fine hairs on the surface of young fruit bodies, and a thick, "double-walled" stem. It also has unique sclerotia-like underground parts. Color can range from black and "sooty" to gray, brown, yellow, or white, although color tends to progress from darker to lighter with age of the fruiting body. Three other wildfire-adapted morels were described from western North America in 2012: M. capitata, M. septimelata, and M. sextelata. None of these three new species share the hairy surface texture of M. tomentosa.
Phylogeny
Based on studies of DNA, M. tomentosa is clearly a distinct species apart from the yellow morels (M. esculenta & ssp.) and black morels (M. elata & ssp.). Mushroom collectors also use the common name "gray morel" for M. esculenta-type morels in eastern North America.