Identification
A honeycomb cap of pits and ridges fused to the stem; completely hollow when sliced — the single most reliable field mark.
Edibility
Edible cooked — a delicacy. Raw or undercooked morels poison: a 2023 Montana restaurant outbreak (51 ill, 2 dead) implicated undercooked morels, documented by CDC MMWR.
In practice
- Hollow + fused ridges = true morel.
- Always cook — even fine-dining raw morel prep is a documented hazard.