Note: This page explores the taxonomic validity of the species name Morchella angusticeps. If you have arrived here wanting to identify morels, please see the Classic Black Morel for a common and wide-spread North American black morel matching the "Morchella angusticeps" found in field guides; see also the Key to Morels.

Morchella angusticeps Peck

by Michael Kuo

In the Bulletin of the New York State Museum (1882; 2: 19), Peck described Morchella angusticeps as follows:

  "Pileus oblong-conical and subobtuse or narrowly conical and acute, adnate to the stem, one or two inches high, and about half as broad at the base; ribs longitudinal, here and there anastamosing or connected by transverse veins; stem subequal, hollow, whitish, furfuraceous without and within, even or rarely rough with irregular longitudinal furrows; asci cylindrical; spores elliptical, whitish tinged with ochre, .0008'-.001' long, .0005'-.0007' broad; paraphyses short, clavate, with one or two septa near the base.
  "Sandy soil in the borders of woods and in open places. West Albany and Center. April and May.
  "Two forms occur, one with the pileus oblong-conical, rather obtuse, often tipped with a slight umbo or papilla, and with a diameter a little surpassing that of the stem from which the base is separated by a slight groove; the other with the pileus narrowly conical, rather acute, scarcely exceeding the stem in diameter, and without any separating groove. The stem and fruit are alike in both forms. The stem is usually about equal in length to the pileus. The species is related to M. conica and M. elata, but may be separated from both by the size of the spores and the character of the paraphyses. In our plant I have never seen these as long as the asci. Large forms appear also to approach M. rimosipes, but that species has the margin of the pileus more free, the stem proportionately longer, and the paraphyses as long as the asci, if we may rely upon the figure of it. Our plant is edible."

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Peck's description, however, neglects to mention any colors for the cap. Though Morchella angusticeps has been interpreted as a black morel (probably because he says it is related to Morchella conica and Morchella elata), Peck's illustration clearly depicts morels with golden pits and whitish ridges. The pointed cap shape in the illustrations and in the description is more typical of black morels, but the "form" illustrated (far right) and described as "lacking any separating groove" where the cap meets the stem is not representative of most black morels, which generally form a shallow rim at the point of attachment. A type collection does still exist, but it is doubtful that it can offer any DNA for analysis after more than 100 years. No genetic study of the type has been published, to my knowledge. The microscopic characters asserted by Peck as distinctive are not informative; spore size and proportional length of paraphyses is highly variable among morels.

At best, Morchella angusticeps is a rare morphological species with the stature of a black morel and the colors of a yellow morel, not documented since Peck's collection. The only DNA-defined taxa in the MDCP that might be said to match this generous interpretation are the Western Blond and the Fuzzy Foot, both of which appear to be limited to areas west of the Rocky Mountains. However, the former has a consistent rim at the point of cap attachment and does not feature highly contrasting pits and ridges; the latter lacks the vertically arranged pits and ridges typical of black morels, has a densely velvety stem, features black ridges and a black stem in most collections, and appears to be limited to conifer burn sites. At worst, Morchella angusticeps is simply insufficiently and confusingly described and illustrated by its author. Unless genetic analysis of Peck's type collection eventually proves possible and successful comparison to well documented collections is made, the species should be abandoned or neotypified with a well described, genetically distinct collection--preferably from the West Albany area.

Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2006, April). Morchella angusticeps. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/morchella_angusticeps.html

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