_Morchella esculenta_
In decided contrast to any of the foregoing fungi, and of unmistakable
aspect, is the famous Morel, _Morchella esculenta_ (Plate 32).
[Sidenote: =Botanical characters=]
The Morel belongs to a cohort of fungi known as the Sporidiifera, in
which the spores are _enclosed in bag-like envelopes_, in distinction
to the Sporifera, in which the spores are _naked_ and _exposed_, as
shown in Plates 35 and 36. These cysts, or bags, or _asci_, which
resemble the _cystidium_ in Plate 35, and in the family of Ascomycetes,
to which the Morel belongs, each contains about eight spores, which
are finally liberated by the bursting of the tip of the bag, after the
manner of a Puff-ball.
In the Morel the hymenium or spore-bearing surface is crowded with
these cysts, and covers the entire exposed conical and pitted surface
of the mushroom.
Description is hardly necessary with its portrait before us. No
other fungus at all resembles it except those of the same genus, and
inasmuch as they are _all edible_, we may safely add to our bill of
fare any fungus which resembles our illustration. The Morel has long
been considered as one of the rarest of delicacies, always at a fancy
premium in the markets--a _bon-mot_ for the rich, a prize for the
peasant. I could fill all my allotted space with the delicate schemes
of the chefs in its preparation for the table.
[Illustration: _Morchella esculenta_]
_PLATE XXXII_