Hi,

It looks like a blond morel to me. What was the closest tree to were it was found, ie, tulip tree, ash tree etc. ? That helps aid in identification.
If you intend on cooking and eating it I would suggest saving a piece of it in the fridge in case of poisoning that would help the Hospital in terms of treatment. Just about every mushroom hunter will tell you to check in a field book and if in doubt throw it out !

I added the below because I saw what state you are from.

Being in Washington State makes truffle hunting a possibility for you .Probably the only state in the union were truffles are plentiful. You CAN make some money harvesting truffles!!!
I am envious.

I agree with dirt_farmer: & also location (near what trees) could also be helpful in narrowing it down, as mentioned. It's at least not a false morel, which are deadly. This (seemingly) blond morel can be consumed cooked or dried - raw can cause unpleaseant stomach issues, but won't seriously harm.

The rule for IDing mushrooms for edibility is iron clad. If you have to ask the identity on an internet forum, without an expert seeing the mushroom in person, then it mustn't be eaten.

That mushrooms looks more like one of the stinkhorns, to me.

One of the identifying features for blond morel's is "sponge-like head".

send it to dirt farmer.. let him take the chance .. or have him send documents so you have recourse.. if he is wrong ....

call your county extension office.. and ask for a referral to a local club ...

and learn to Id yourself....

i totally agree with rhiz ... especially in regard to asking strangers about it

ken

Here are a couple of links on morel identification (I am not an expert and cannot vouch for their information):
http://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/morel-mushroom.html
http://www.michiganmorels.com/morels2.shtml

I've read that puffballs and true morels can safely be eaten by non-experts* -- but only by carefully checking all identification criteria and being 100% positive that everything matches.

That said -- speaking generally and not solely on plant identification -- in my experience the vast majority of people (including myself):

1) are not observant enough to identify anything they're not familiar with,

2) are governed more by hope (mushroom greed) than science.

It all comes down to whether you want to risk your life -- your death -- on your amateur identification of a mushroom.

___
* the only mushrooms for which that is true.

These are Morels I found in my yard back in May (they're on a placemat from our dining room)

{{gwi:370962}}

So the size it not a disqualifier. The ones I've seen in the stores are usually dried which shrinks them dramatically.

If you slice it in half along its length, the stem and the top should be hollow. If it is not hollow, it's not a Morel. If it is hollow it might be, although to my limited knowledge Morels are typically found in the spring when the temperature of the soil first warms up to above 55 deg F. So finding one now in my area would make me seriously doubt the identification.

Thanks for all of your help! I had already discarded the mushroom when I posted my question, as I had no intention of eating it just based on advice from GW. I just wanted to get a preliminary idea (such as, "No, that is clearly XX mushroom, not a morel." Or "Could be a morel. Do more homework.") before I looked into the matter further.

And to answer your questions, it was found near some plum trees.

Hi,
I just wanted to add this.
There is a book called " 100 edible mushrooms " by Michael Kuo.
It is an excellent and well written book with good pictures of people in present time collecting wild mushrooms for table fare.
It may even be in your library.
Now there is nothing wrong about being cautious with mushrooms.
But you could get sick from something else and just happened to have wild mushrooms the same day.
If you go to the ER and you kept a specimen of what you eat it dispenses any guesswork on what you ate. That's why I said to keep a sample in the fridge. I got that advice from other mushroom hunters, its not my own idea but it sounds like its good insurance. There are dangerous , poisonous mushrooms and unfortunately they get all the attention.
If someone was asking online about anything in the Amanita family I would have not given any input back because there are some poisonous members in that genus.
People have eaten wild mushrooms for thousands of years and yes some have been poisoned too. But people are much less likely of being poisoned if they are doing their homework. What I suggested was A. Get a field guild. and B. If you are doubtful to throw it out.
Most cautious people will pick something that is easy to identify first and then only eat a very small portion at first to see if its okay.
I don't believe its okay for children without adult supervision to pick mushrooms but a grown up intelligent adult should be able to figure stuff out.
One other thing. Some safe mushrooms are safer after being cooked well.

"There are old mushroom hunters,
There are bold mushroom hunters,
But there are NO bold, old mushroom hunters."

:)

FataMorgana

Your mushroom is most likely a Common Stinkhorn (Phallus Impudicus). The cap of the young specimen has a slimy covering that contains spores. It has a notoriously foul smell that attracts insects who feed on it, clean if of most if not all of the slime and in the process, disperse the spores. After the insects have "cleaned" the top of the mushroom, the dried, pitted cap that remains does resemble a yellow morel. And since like morels, stinkhorns are also hollow, they are often confused.

It's easy to differentiate the two. First, morels appear in the spring. Stinkhorns appear in the summer and fall. Once the slime has been cleaned away, the foul smell may not be as strong and as noticeable as it is in the young mushroom, but there may be some remnants of the slime in some of the craters. As for the odor, it is milder in the older specimens but you should still be able to detect it.

It's likely that others will grow next summer and you will be better able to sort out the ID.

A mycologist friend (with whom I've been on a few forays) says you cannot accurately identify a mushroom based only on a guidebook photo and description: accurate IDs also depend on smell, whether its color changes after the mushroom is picked, spore prints, etc. (as well as examination of features such as internal structure, which another poster mentioned).

Your best bet is to take advantage of learning opportunities offered by your local mycological society.

Here is a link that might be useful: Puget Sound Mycological Society

I had already discarded the mushroom when I posted my question, as I had no intention of eating it just based on advice from GW.

==>>>

super... knowledge is power ... but lets be a bit careful ...

what you probably wont believe.. is how many time some nimrod chimes in.. AFTER HE ATE THE DARN PLANT.... and then wants to know what it is... not necessarily shrooms ...

something like ... it was really bitter ... it didnt taste good..etc .... i will yell ... HEY DUDE.. ASK FIRST ... crikey dude.. you got a death wish ... lol

i was pretty sure they were a spring deal ... but i didnt feel like spending the time looking it up ... and of course.. that was the first clue ....

live long and prosper ...

ken

All animals are capable of contracting rabies especially ones in the wild.
Domestic food & pet animals are vaccinated to prevent the disease.
No Venison is legal in USA restaurants because its not inspected for rabies.
You may have seen many herbs used for treatment of rabies from the colonial days.
This was mainly from handling wild game and under cooking of said game not from people being bitten that often.
So whats this got to do about wild mushrooms?
How is it hunters and cooks of wild game have such incredible insight into the safety of their deer meat? Do they examine the meat under a microscope? Do they follow the
deer around the forest to make sure it is not behaving strangely before shooting it?
Do they go to the CDC and ask them to train them in identification of dangerous pathogens ?
Why don't they take any precautions? AND IN ADDITION it is a known fact that chronic fatigue syndrome in humans is spread by deer meat. I have seen personally deer wasted by that disease.
So you want to show how dangerous wild mushrooms are from lack of decent identification. Which they are.
I will show you how dangerous wild game is with absolutely NO attempt at identification.