false morel

Gyromitra fungi are included in the informal category "false morels".

Consuming large amounts of gyromitrin, such as are found in untreated false morels, may lead to catastrophic liver failure and death.

Morels are quite distinctive, but there is a small chance they could be confused with false morels.

See the poisonous mushroom page for ways to distinguish true morels from false morels.

Resembling the latter genus, they are called false or early morels.

On one hand, many people have enjoyed eating false morels for years and may even consider them a favorite wild mushroom.

On the other, false morels have definitely caused serious illnesses and deaths in the United States.

The edibility of "false morels" has been recently brought into question.

Selling and purchasing fresh false morels is legal in Finland, where it is highly regarded.

Most of the gyromitrin must be removed to render false morels edible.