MORELS. 153 



purchased, if enquired for, throughout the year, chiefly 

 being imported. 



The common morel {Morchella esculentd) has a 

 rather globose cap, about two inches in diameter, 

 attached to the stem at the base, this latter being 

 about the length of the height of the cap, and half an 

 inch thick. The stem is white and the pileus of a 

 tawny grey. It is found in spring or early summer, 

 say from the latter end of April to June, on 

 chalky or clayey soil, rarely on sand, and sometimes 

 on burnt ground. It is not unusual to find it in old 

 double hedgerows and occasionally in woods and 

 orchards. 



The conical morel {Morchella cornea) is nearly of 

 the same size, but the cap has a conical shape, is 

 almost twice as long as broad, and the pits on the 

 cap are long and narrow, with here and there trans- 

 verse veins. Otherwise it so much resembles the 

 common morel that some persons believe it to be only 

 a variety of that species. At any rate it is equally 

 delicate, and that is of the greatest importance to us. 



There is yet another species, with a rather conical 

 cap, but the bottom edge of the cap is free from the 

 stem, and for half way up. It is smaller in the cap, 

 and longer in the stem than the conical morel, and, 

 from the half free pileus, or cap, has been called the 

 free-cap morel {Morchella semilibera). It occurs at 

 the same period of the year, and in similar stations 

 to the other species. It seems strange that in many 



