Look what I found on the trail...

[jaybird]

$20 a pound is the going rate for morels, and this joker was as big as my hand.

Look what I found on the trail...

[Cuffs]

Morels?!?  Where!?!

[Magic City Matt]

I've seen those things before. 20 bucks a pound? What does it taste like?

[jaybird]

Let's just say I was on the Pinhoti in the vicinity of Hillabee Creek and a large power line easement. 

The best mushroom you've ever tasted!  Very earthy and pure.

[jaybird]

Here are some other finds from the day:

Bloom on a PawPaw tree (Asimina triloba). Note the pine and oak pollen stuck to the bloom.

Look what I found on the trail...

Halberd-leaved violet (Viola hastata). Usually the leaves are variegated, so these are unusual.  

Look what I found on the trail...

Nodding trillium (Trillium cernuum) beginning to open.

Look what I found on the trail...

Bluets (Houstonia pygmaea).

Look what I found on the trail...

Catesby's Trillium (Trillium catesbaei).

Look what I found on the trail...

Emerging Fern fiddleheads (most likely cinnamon ferns - Osmunda cinnamomea)

Look what I found on the trail...

Wild Iris (Iris verna).

Look what I found on the trail...

Wood Sorrel (Oxalis violacea).

Look what I found on the trail...

[Cuffs]

I was just thru there on Monday!  I wonder if they will wait til Im back there on thursday!?!?  Sauteed in butter... MMmmmmm!

[erjack]

Jay, I missed the Morels, but saw many of the same blooms further north.  Thanks for the pics and the names, as I saw them, but had no clue what they were.

[Rigormortis]

$20 a pound is the going rate for morels, and this joker was as big as my hand.

Look what I found on the trail...

Where do I sell them for $20 a lb. when I find them?.

[jaybird]

Here's one source you might try:

http://answers.yahoo.com/...qid=20080415000537AAVrsnC

This site sells them for about $30 per pound:

http://www.oregonmushroom...3-23-morel-mushrooms.aspx

Here's a good sampling of the going prices for fresh and dried morels, some over $100 per pound:

http://www.calibex.com/mo...alibex2zB1z0--search-html

[ke4uzi]

Have not seen any of those in 25 years and that was in Indiana. Never thought there were any here.

[Rob]

Never would have imagined Morels around here. They are quite tasty and as Jay said, very earthy ( in a delicate way ). I have seen them at Whole Foods before and the going rate at that time was $24 per pound.

[Joshua Szulecki]

I've seen them a few times in Alabama, but moreso further north.

Personally, I'd be more interested ways to grow them than trying to find them in the wild and dig them up. It is certainly possible. They have made a lot of strides in the past few decades in bringing many things that are traditionally thought of as ungrowable into the range of backyard cultivation, just look at how many "ungrowable" North American orchids have been brought into cultivation. Plenty of people are managing to grow morels and truffles in cultivation, even commercially. Indeed, the cultivation of truffles has been possible and performed for over a century. Of course, then they might get too cheap...  

For some good links, see: http://thegreatmorel.com/growingtips.html

A patent-holder on a cultivation process sells pre-innoculated elms. Unfortunately, the minimum order is ten, so it is a tad pricey.  http://www.morelfarms.com/

And the spawn can be purchased from Fungi Perfecti, and interesting outfit I came across in researching sources for mycorrhizal fungi that might be suitable for priming soil so that cultivated Cypripedium could reproduce naturally. http://www.fungi.com/cultures/index.html