Poisonous Morels?

[Thomas ODell]

So called false morels are Gyromitra esculenta, and other G. species. I 
dont recall if the Savory Wild M. has pictures or not, but they are 
potentially deadly (gyromitrin decomposes to mono-methyl hydrazine on 
heating, a potent and volatile hemolytic toxin).

On 3 Nov 1996, Rich Martin wrote:

> I live in Northcentral Washington state, and have collected "Early Morels"
> ("Verpa's"), the "Edible Morel" (Morchella esculenta's), and the
> "Narrow-capped Morel" (Morchella augusticeps), for years and years...with
> my parents and brothers and sister.  I have a book called: "The Savory
> Wild Mushroom" by Margaret McKenny copyrighted 1962, that refers to most
> of the edible mushrooms of this area.  The other day at work, a coworker
> and I were talking about gathering morels, and she mentioned being told by
> another source, to be careful not to get any "False Morels" mixed in with
> her collection, because they were deadly poison, and looked very mush like
> the "good" ones.  Well, I commented that I have never heard of a
> "poisonous morel" or a correctly-identified "False morel". BTW, our family
> has ate these morels for years, as I stated, with no ill effects...love
> them.. Are there any of these "poisonous morels, or false morels" anywhere
> to be found? If so are there any good "Color Photos" of them on the web or
> any books on such?
> Thank You...
> -=Rich Martin=-
> Wenatchee, Wa.
> richm at televar.com
> 
>