The name false morel is given to several species of mushroom which bear a resemblance to the highly regarded true morels of the genus Morchella. Like Morchella, false morels are members of the Pezizales, but within that group represent several unrelated taxa scattered through the families Morchellaceae, Discinaceae, and Helvellaceae, with the epithet "false morel" most often ascribed to members of the genus Gyromitra.
When gathering morels for mushrooms, care must be taken to distinguish them from potentially poisonous lookalikes. While a great many morel lookalikes, and even morels themselves are toxic or cause gastrointestinal upset when consumed raw, some, such as Gyromitra esculenta remain toxic even after conventional cooking methods. Although some false morels can be eaten without ill effect, others can cause severe gastrointestinal upset, loss of muscular coordination (including cardiac muscle), or even death.[1][2] Incidents of poisoning usually occur when they are eaten in large quantities, inadequately cooked, or over several days in a row. Some species contain gyromitrin, a toxic and carcinogenic organic compound, which is hydrolyzed in the body into monomethylhydrazine (MMH).[3] Gyromitra esculenta in particular has been reported to be responsible for up to 23% of mushroom fatalities each year in Poland.[4] G. esculenta—regarded as delicious—is known to be potentially deadly when eaten fresh, but research in the 1990s showed that toxins remain even after proper treatment.[5][6] While many people freely eat false morels, potentially even toxic species, without apparent harm, some people have developed acute toxicity and recent evidence suggests that there may be long-term health risks as well. [7][8]
The key morphological features distinguishing some of the false morels from true morels are as follows:
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