FORUM FUNGHI E MICOLOGIA

THE DEADLY MORELS…A LESSON IN CRYPTIC SPECIES

An urgent warning has been given to all mycophagists (those who eat mushrooms and other fungi) not to collect morels for the table as a new potentially deadly species that mimics the black burn morels of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California has recently been discovered.
In an article in Mycotoxin: The Journal of Fungal Toxicology (Vol. XIII, No. 1, January 2013), Dr. Jacob Joculus of the Department of Plant & Microbial Biology and Dr. Mary Mortiferens of the Department of Public Health, both of the University of California at Berkeley, have described a new species of morel, Morchella pseudophalloides, that contains the same deadly toxins as the death cap, Amanita phalloides.
The new species was discovered during a research project where putative edible California fungi were being chemically analyzed for trace amounts of known fungal toxins. During thin layer chromatography (TLC) tests of morels, about 6% of the black morels were found to have small but significant amounts of amatoxins. These morels were separated from the rest and a thorough study was made of their morphological characteristics and sequences were made of the ITS region of the mushrooms. It was discovered that although the amatoxin containing specimens were macroscopically indistinguishable from the black burn morels (M. sextelata & M. septimelata), there were minor but consistent microscopic differences and a 4-5% difference in the ITS sequences. These differences resulted in the new species, Morchella pseudophalloides Joculus & Mortiferans being named. A complete description of the newly named fungus can be found in the Mycotoxin article.
Although no deaths have yet to be attributed to this new species, Dr. Mortiferens stresses that a large meal of M. pseudophalloides is potentially deadly, and that smaller quantities consumed over a period of time could cause severe liver damage. “This study has demonstrated the existence of potentially dangerous cryptic species of morels. Our advice is that no black morels be eaten—it is just too risky,” Dr. Mortiferens told me in a telephone interview.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: In order to continue their research on toxic morels, Dr. Joculus and Dr. Mortiferens need as many specimens of morels as possible. They have eagerly accepted my offer of help from the readers of Fungi Magazine. I have agreed to receive collections of morels and deliver them to their laboratory at the university. So, fellow fungophiles, this year you should collect morels as usual, but you must not eat them. Deliver or ship them to me and I will see that they are properly cared for. Please, it's for science!