Morchella steppicola, commonly known as the morel of the steppes or blistered morel, is a species of fungus in the family Morchellaceae (Ascomycota). Originally described from the steppic meadows of Ukraine in 1941,[1] this ancient relic of the last ice age[citation needed] corresponds to Mes-1, the earliest-diverging phylogenetic lineage in section Esculenta.[2]

Morchella steppicola
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Pezizomycetes
Order: Pezizales
Family: Morchellaceae
Genus: Morchella
Species:
M. steppicola
Binomial name
Morchella steppicola
Zerova (1941)

Other than its unique –for the genus– ecological adaptation, this species boasts some remarkable features, such as the densely "blistered" or "merulioid" ridges of its cap, a chambered stem, and strongly striate spores.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Зерова М.Я. Новий зморшок із цілинного степу (Morchella steppicola Zerova sp. nov.) // Бо тан. журн. АН УРСР. — 1941. — 2, No 1. — С. 155—159.
  2. ^ O'Donnell K, Rooney AP, Mills GL, Kuo M, Weber NS, Rehner SA (2011). "Phylogeny and historical biogeography of true morels (Morchella) reveals an early Cretaceous origin and high continental endemism and provincialism in the Holarctic". Fungal Genetics and Biology. 48 (3): 252–265. doi:10.1016/j.fgb.2010.09.006. PMID 20888422. Archived from the original on 2021-01-31. Retrieved 2018-12-29.
  3. ^ Suhomilin MM, Kutkova OB, Panina ZO (2007). "Morchella steppicola Zer.: морфологiчнi особливостi, ультраструктура та поширення в пiвденно-схiднiй Украïнi" [Morchella steppicola Zer.: morphological peculiarities, ultrastructure and distribution in southeastern Ukraine]. Ukrainian Botanical Journal (in Ukrainian). 64 (6): 867–874.
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Morchella steppicola
 Smooth hymenium
 Cap is ovate
 Hymenium attachment is irregular or not applicable
 Stipe is bare
   Ecology is saprotrophic or mycorrhizal
 Edibility is edible