Morchella palazonii

A recently described species dedicated to the prestigious late mycologist Fernando Palazón. It is a Morchella that can attain a large size, characterized by a cylindrical pileus with a rounded apex. The ridges are initially whitish, rapidly turning ochre or straw-colored and becoming reddish brown at maturity.

The stipe is granular, longer than the pileus and white in its early stages, staining red or orange at maturity or upon handling. The base is strongly swollen and completely lacks a vallecula.

It is a species that can fruit in numerous habitats, including forests of Quercus, Pinus, fruit tree orchards, and riparian woodlands, associated with Fraxinus, Populus, or Ulmus, among others.

The specimens studied were found thanks to indications from friend Héctor Santesteban, growing in an area with a small stream under Fraxinus excelsior in the Navarrese locality of Beintza-Labaien. Definitive identification was made possible through collaboration with leading expert Javier Marcos, who handled their molecular sequencing.