''Morchella tomentosa'', commonly called the gray, fuzzy foot, or black foot morel, is a species of

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately fr ...

in the family

Morchellaceae The Morchellaceae are a family of ascomycete fungi in the order Pezizales. According to a standard reference work, the family has contained at least 49 species distributed among four genera. However, in 2012, five genera that produce ascoma that ...

. ''M. tomentosa'' is a fire-associated species described from western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

, 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 A sclerotium (; (), is a compact mass of hardened fungal mycelium containing food reserves. One role of sclerotia is to survive environmental extremes. In some higher fungi such as ergot, sclerotia become detached and remain dormant until favor ...

-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 The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cy ...

. 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.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q3323823 tomentosa Edible fungi Fungi of North America Fungi described in 2008