Morel Mushrooms in Branson area (Kansas City, Springfield: move to, eat, health)

[songinthewind7]

Any morel mushroom hunters on here? I've never done this before but would like to.

Recommendations on where to find them?

[Bluefox]

You're pretty far south for morels this time of year. I remember finding morels at Devil's Backbone (near Fort Leonard Wood) in early April and they were already dried out. At this point you are likely going to have to travel north to find them.

Nobody is going to tell you exactly where to look because if they have a known productive spot, that's their "honey hole" and they will not share its location with anyone and even asking about it is a major faux pas.

I can tell you that Weston Bend State Park is well-known for having morels, and morels have also been found at Watkins Mill State Park, Knob Noster State Park, and Smithville Lake (all closer to Kansas City).

Last year, I found about 25 very good sized morels in an ash and elm grove near Kansas City. Those are the 2 types of trees that morels like the best. They also apparently like sycamore, poplar, dogwood and fruit trees, though I've never personally found morels near those trees. They don't tend to like Oak, Maple, and Hickory, though in times past they have been called "Hickory Chickens", so maybe sometimes they do like hickory. At any rate, the trick is being able to identify trees from their bark and branches since you won't have the benefit of being able to see their full leaves when looking for morels (though sometimes checking the dead leaves on the ground around the area can give you an idea of what trees are nearby).



I found morels at the base of this tree. This is a young elm. You can tell by the criss-cross lines in the bark.



This is a young ash tree. You can tell by the diamond striations in the bark. I also found morels near the base of this tree.



These are the branches of the trunk shown above, the ash tree. One way to identify ash trees is their opposite branching. As you can see here, the twigs grow directly opposite of each other, as opposed to alternating like you see with other trees like oaks and elms. The easiest way to remember trees with opposite branching is MAD BUCK. Maple, Ash, Dogwood, Buckye. Most other trees in Missouri have alternate branching.



Here, you can see morels growing at the base of an elm. You can tell the elm is dying or dead because the bark has fallen off. Morels love dying elms and ash for some reason, but will also grow around perfectly healthy elm and ash.

These were a few of the shrooms I found around the trees listed above. A lot of people like to fry em up basic, but if you know how to make a good risotto, there's no better mushroom on the planet than morels to add to that dish .



Best of luck on the hunt! Morels begin popping in lowland river and creek bottoms in early spring, and move to the uplands/hills in late spring.

[songinthewind7]

Thank you for your input and I had no clue that asking about it was a major faux pas.

[thehideawayian]

Originally Posted by songinthewind7

Thank you for your input and I had no clue that asking about it was a major faux pas.

My dad would find them. Mom cooked them just for him. None of the rest of the family ate them. Sorry I don't have any other info, I would sure pass it on. Dad has been deceased since '69. Good luck!

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by songinthewind7

Thank you for your input and I had no clue that asking about it was a major faux pas.

Haha, it's okay, I only know because I made that mistake myself. I was mentored by a girl who had hunted for years and years and learned from her dad. We would go out and hunt for new spots but she would never tell me her "secret" spots. The reason is that morels tend to come back in the same place year after year, so once the cat's out of the bag...

Anyway, I hope you enjoy morel hunting as much as I do. Sometimes I'll go all day without finding any but still feel good because I've spent the day trekking around nature and I'll almost always come across other interesting plants and fungi which I like to document. I would spend some time working on tree identification if you aren't well-versed. Don't waste time trekking through oak and maple forests is the 101 lesson (I learned that the hard way).

If you happen to have some forested land, or know someone who does and will let you hunt on their property, that's the best bet.

[songinthewind7]

I have a facebook friend that hunts them up in Springfield. He hasn't found any this year though. I was going to meet up with him once but the timing didn't work out.
I have family on the other side of the state that finds them and eats them.

It just sounds like a fun thing to do but I wanted to go with someone that can show me the difference between poisonous and edible.