Bias?

WTH are you trying to refute?

I was describing my location.

I wasn't asserting or describing the only type of location, there are many.

Of course I know morels can grow on steep hillsides, I found one at and on the Natural Bridge trail in Daniel Boone State Forest.

I can't guarantee you'll find a lot on the steep hillsides but they don't seem to like to grow on them that much.

But they will and do grow profusely on gentle slopes. And yellows love to grow on the spine of the slope.

And the flora down there in Kentucky is different than the flora up here in SW Ohio and in Michigan.

There's a gradient change in flora as you get way past Lexington on up to Florence. For instance the white trillium with the stalk that supports the flower is down in Kentucky but we don't have that plant up here.


Sap:
If you want to believe its the sudden uptake of sugars or sap that's fine, its your choice.
But I rarely find sap oozing out of the roots. I personally believe in the legumes like parathesia had mentioned before and not trees.
How do you know that it is not a particular bacteria associated with the trees? or plants?

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Horticulture said:

Have you considered that there's a certain bias as to where you find morels in the wild?  I happened to get lucky this spring, and chance upon a particular section of forest on my farm rich with both black and yellow morels (in total my 2 friends and I collected over a wet pound in 30-40 minutes of looking).  The first one I found was on a trail, near the edge of the forest like you said.  Image below:



The next morning I got 2 of my friends to wander the forest with me, and continue looking.  At first we cruised the edges, like where we found the first one, but we didn't find any more like this.  When we started venturing further inward, we began to find more.  The thing is, for every one that we found, I'm convinced that we passed up many more. 

We seemed to find a lot when we moved up hillsides.  I have a couple theories as to why that is.
-They are easier to spot on hillsides because as you walk up, you are looking at the ground.
-Legitimately morels prefer hillsides, perhaps because they get good water circulation.  (i.e. morels like good drainage, but dislike stagnant water).
-Deer do not eat morels on steep hillsides, because they cannot balance as well.

The largest collection of morels we found (8 black within about a ten foot radius) was at the very top of a steep hillside, overlooking a drainage gully below.  They were deep within some dense brush a fallen limb had made, which seemed to support with my deer theory. 

I'm convinced that they gravitate toward wild cherry trees.  My friend was less convinced, and felt that cherry trees (having distinct black bark), just afforded me an excuse to look harder, and that they were scattered fairly evenly throughout.

The setting of this forest matches the profile of the Maple-Basswood mesic forest, except Maple, wild cherry, and tulip trees seemed to be the dominant flora (also many wildflowers). 

If I had to take a wild guess what triggered fruiting, I would say its the sudden flux of sugars/nutrients that occurs when sap begins to mobilize in the spring. 

But back to the original point to my musings, when you collect morels in the wild, you're competing against a lot of factors that may have nothing to do with where they actually grow.  For one thing, your ability to find them is linked only to your ability to see them.  There's a lot of bias that comes from that, particularly considering how much harder they are to spot against leaf litter.  You're also competing against deer (or at least in my area), which have a lot more time to look for them, and are a lot better at sniffing them out.  We found a lot of chewed off bases, where deer (or some other animal) had beat us to the punch.  The areas deer and other animals can access may create a lot of bias in that regard. I think it's also probably useful to go with other people who haven't collected before, since there's a tendency to get stuck in a search routine (like me and seeking out wild cherries).  Anyway, I hope this adds to your collective morel knowledge base. 

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Obviously you didn't see my photos



http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/9479734/page/2/fpart/25/vc/1

I have no problems finding morels. I find them before everyone else and I know they are up before everyone else.

Cherry trees suck. Go to a White Ash forest. Trust me.
Also, Stay away from Walnut and Hickory its a waste of time.
Even the people in Michigan say "ash trees".
So it stands to figure there is some sort of association with black morels and those trees. Plus the soil must be loamy regardless of what type of forest it is.
Yellow morels will also happen to be there as well, in addition to half-frees and Disciotis venosa.

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I wish I had snagged more pictures the second day, but we didn't bring the camera back.  To finish, here's a close up of the first one in hand:


Happy hunting.  And good luck in your attempts to grow.

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