Morchella anatolica

The fruit bodies are rufescent and can grow to 40–100 mm (1.6–3.9 in) tall and 7–15 mm (0.28–0.59 in) wide. They are conical or acutely conical, with fleshy longitudinal ribs that remain typically pale at maturity and never darken. Young specimens have dark grey pits sometimes with a faint lilac tint, and contrasting pale ribs, but typically fade to uniformly buff or greyish-brown in maturity. Pits are large and vertically elongated, often stretching uninterrupted from the base of the pileus to the apex, with no or rare transverse interconnecting ribs that are characteristic of most other Morchella species. The stipe is bulbous at the base, weakly wrinkled and initially covered in a distinct grey pruinescence that fades in mature specimens. There is no sinus at the attachment of the pileus with the stipe. [2][4][5][6]

Ascospore of Morchella anatolica in lactophenol cotton blue exhibiting typical longitudinal grooves.

The ascospores are ellipsoid to broadly ellipsoid, hyaline (translucent), and measure (22.5–)24–27(–32) by (12–)13–17(–20) μm; these dimensions are relatively large for the genus Morchella. Deep longitudinal grooves are present on the surface of mature spores when viewed under a scanning electron microscope or in the appropriate staining medium. The spores are produced in groups of eight in cylindrical to club-shaped asci, measuring 266–345 by 20–26(–35) μm. The paraphyses are hyaline, slenderly cylindrical or slightly inflated, with rounded to attenuated and sometimes enlarged apices, have 1–2(–3) septa and measure 150–250 by 8.5–18 μm. The acroparaphyses, located on the sterile ribs, are fasciculate and variable in shape, have 1–4 septa and measure 60–217 by 14–30 μm. The stipe features distinctly long, subcapitate, clavate or pyriform hyphoid hairs, which are sub-hyaline to pale gray and measure (64–)89–174(–222) by 23–40 μm.[2][4][5][6]

The culture colony of M. anatolica is quite fast-growing, occupying 90-mm Petri dishes in approximately 20 days, eventually reaching 30–40 mm in diameter. The mycelium is buff to pale beige, sometimes with incrustations at the colony margin. The hyphal system is composed of thick-walled, hyaline to brownish hyphae 8–14.5 μm across, with hyaline or light brownish leading hyphae 5–7.5 μm across, and more tortuous interlacing hyphae 2.5–5 μm across.[6]

Because of its distinctive morphology, M. anatolica can hardly be confused with other morel species in the field. Like M. anatolica, M. rufobrunnea also lacks a sinus and has ribs that remain pale at all stages of growth, while the stipe is also covered by a grey pruinescence. However, M. rufobrunnea produces larger and more robust fruit bodies with multiple interconnecting ridges forming several longitudinally arranged pits. Microscopically, M. rufobrunnea has smaller spores on average, usually ranging between 22 and 26 μm long, and has shorter hyphoid hairs on the stipe, rarely exceeding 100 μm.[10][6]