Very often edible mushrooms are similar to poisoned ones, and it can be difficult to distinguish them even to a seasoned mushroom picker. For example, morels have a number of similarities with the lines, and they are often confused, collecting in one basket. We will talk about the differences of morels and lines in this article.
- Morel ordinary: description
- Edible or not
- How not to confuse morels with lines
- When to collect morels
- Where to collect
- Precautionary measures
- How to cook morels
Morel ordinary: description
Morel (Latin Morchella esculenta) is a mushroom from the class of marsupials and the family of the same name. It is one of the largest mushrooms in the family. In height can reach 6-20 cm. In weight - up to 500 g.
It has a fleshy elongated, usually egg-like, wrinkled (from the fossa-cells) cap, which is 3 to 7 cm in diameter, 3-8 in diameter. It can be painted in different colors: yellow, gray, brown, etc. Older members have darker hats. The legs have a cylindrical shape. It is tightly connected to the cap. Its length is 3-9 cm, thickness is 1.5-3 cm. The color of the leg of a young mushroom is white, the older ones are yellowish, creamy. Visually, it seems that the morel hat and leg have the same length.
In the context of a light mushroom. Its flesh is tender, fragile, it crumbles easily when touched.
You can meet him throughout the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere. It usually grows alone, rarely can grow in groups. Chooses bright places and fertile soil. It can grow both in forests and in grassy areas, sandy areas, in vegetable gardens.
It grows from mid-April to late March.
Most common species:
- edible (ordinary) - Morchella esculenta;
- conic - Morchella conica;
- tall - Morchella elata;
- steppe - Morchella steppicola.
The morel giant is the most similar with the lines.
Edible or not
If you are interested in the question, morel mushroom - edible or not, then its can be eatenIt has a pleasant taste and almost no smell. Treats conditionally edible mushrooms entering the third category.They contain hydrozin, a toxic substance, in small concentrations.
It can be eaten after boiling for at least 10-15 minutes or dried. 
How not to confuse morels with lines
These two mushrooms are very similar to each other, and they are easy to confuse. Meanwhile, eating raw lines is fatal because they are fatal. poisonous mushroomscontaining strong toxin - gyromitrin. Its quantity will depend on the place of growth of the line and its age.
There is no unequivocal opinion as to whether the edible mushroom is a line or not when consumed after cooking. There are suggestions that no treatment can help remove poison from the body. It is also believed that it can be eaten after cooking.
The fruit body of this fungus is very similar to the structure of the brain or walnut.The cap has the shape of an irregular roundness, in a diameter of 2-10 cm. It is all pecked with convolutions and connected at the edges with the leg.
Look like morels and stitches in nature, you can see in the photo. 
Let's try to figure out what the differences between morels and lines are:
- If you take a good look, you can see that the head of the first one is usually conical, and in the second it looks like a human brain.
- Morels tend to protrude well from the ground. Their leg is completely open. Leg at the lines goes to the ground or forest floor. It is almost invisible.
- When looking at these two mushrooms, one gets the impression that the first (morel) seems to be stretching upward (both the cap and the leg are elongated), and the second - on the contrary, to the ground: it is squat, the leg is wide and extends downwards.
- Morel in the middle is hollow, the line is filled with winding pulp.
- Usually the lines are much larger than morels.
- Morels have a less pronounced mushroom smell than their inedible counterpart.
When to collect morels
As for where the morels grow and when they should be collected, the collection process can be started from the end of April. Although at this time they are still tasteless, and they did not have a mushroom flavor. Only in May, they become strong, fragrant and very appetizing.
Where to collect
You can meet these mushrooms:
- in forests (coniferous, mixed), on forest edges and along roads, in well-lit places, clearings;
- in the gardens;
- at the site of fires;
- in city parks;
- in the gardens.
It can grow in both fertile and sandy, sandy sandy soil. 
Finding them is not so easy, since the cap often merges with the color of dry, yellow grass.
Precautionary measures
Both morels and lines should be used with caution and only after boiling. At the slightest suspicion that some kind of mushroom has not been in your basket of a mushroom picker, better to throw and do not risk health. 
Boiling lines should be done with the window open, because during cooking the poison will evaporate. For the same reason, do not inhale a pair of boiling broth. Cooking should take place in an unclosed container.
Usually, among the first symptoms of poisoning, there are several mandatory ones: vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.
They can occur at different times depending on the fungus eaten. Poisoning lines appear within 6-10 hours after their use.
In case of mild poisoning and the observation of the above symptoms, one should induce vomiting and, drinking a large amount of water with a dissolved teaspoon of salt or dry mustard, wash the stomach. It is possible to provoke vomiting by drinking a large amount of water and pressing two fingers on the root of the tongue. 
After washing should take pills activated carbon (one or two pieces per kilogram of human weight).
If severe poisoning occurs with loss of consciousness, an immediate emergency call is required.
Mushrooms should not be given to children, consumed by pregnant, lactating mothers, people with their individual intolerance, those who have problems with the work of the cardiovascular system.
How to cook morels
And finally, a few words about how to prepare morels and stitch mushrooms.
The first rush into boiling salted water and boil for at least 15-20 minutes. After this, the broth is poured out, and the mushrooms are washed under running water. Then they can already be cooked at will - fry, bake, pickle, freeze, etc. The boiling procedure is obligatory in all cases except further drying. You can dry without boiling. 
There are many recipes that include morels. This includes adding to noodles, buckwheat porridge, risotto, salads, and roasting in an oven in pots, and using it as a filling for sausages, cakes, pies.The only place where they are not advised to use these mushrooms is the first courses. There they lose their taste and flavor.
The lines need to boil always. Before cooking, they must be crushed with a knife. Per kilo of mushrooms will require 6 liters of water, per 100 g - at least 2 liters. In boiling water you need to pour a pinch of baking soda. Then put the mushrooms in there. After 15-20 minutes, drain the water, rinse the mushrooms well. It is advisable to boil them again.
To make the lines safer, they need to be dried for a month. With the evaporation of moisture and most of the toxins. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to distinguish between edible morels and inedible lines, even knowing their signs. If you even doubt a bit, a good mushroom is poisonous in front of you, better get rid of it in order to avoid serious consequences. In any case, it is strictly forbidden to eat raw mushrooms in food.
