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402 GROWTH PARAMETERS
What in the world could be the common denominator shared by all these habitats? Who knows?
The only habitats I can easily recreate are the aftermath of the fire, the beauty bark bed and the gravel
road bed. Of these, the fire-treated habitat has proved the most reliable, and reproducible. Fire destroys
competitors and reduces nutrient levels of carbon and nitrogen while proportionately
increasing levels of calcium, potassium and mineral salts. This wasteland supports little life, save for
the treasured Morel.
When nature suffers a catastrophe, the Morel life cycle lies ready in the waiting. How Morels
thrive in the charred desolation left by a forest fire is, in itself, mystifying. In the spring of 1989, after
the massive Yellowstone fires of the previous summer, huge fruitings of Morels emerged from the
ashen landscape. Some of the largest Morel finds in history were
discovered one year after the Mt. St.
Helen's eruption. So abundant were the fruitings that excited collectors filled their pick-up trucks to
the brim with hundreds of pounds of Morels. To their dismay and disbelief, the gritty ash made the
mushrooms entirely inedible.
Stories of unusual morel fruitings are as enticing as they are bewildering, and in certain cases approach
legendary status. Here are a few examples:
I A massive Morel fruiting occurred several weeks after sludge from a Washington pulp company
was flooded into a tree nursery. Thousands of Morels sprang up.
I After a flood in eastern Oregon, where a family's backyard was under a foot of water for more Figure 356. The aftermath of the Yellowstone Fire created an ideal habitat which yielded huge quantities of
edible & choice Morels.
than
a week, Motels weighing several pounds soon followed. (See Figure 357.)
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