Morchella elata group (Morel)

The fruit body consists of a brown, more or less conical, deeply pitted head atop a pale white to yellowish stem. The fruit body may be up to 20 centimetres tall and grows on the ground. The pits on the conical head are created by two sets of ridges. One set consists of long, generally straight ridges that run along the length of the head. The other consists of numerous, short ridges that run (more or less at right angles) between the long ones.

There has been little study of the Australian species of Morchella and 'Morchella elata group' is a convenient name for what is likely to be a group of macroscopically similar species. Also present in Australia is the 'Morchella esculenta group', in which the head is more or less spherical and in which the ridges are irregularly arranged.