Also referred to as seeds or samaras, the hairy fruit of the elm tree is not edible by humans, and it doesn't hold much ornamental appeal. Fruit appears on the elm tree following flowering in the springtime. The green seeds are round and flat, and are approximately 1 inch in length and thickness. A large, mature elm tree produces prolific amounts of seed pods, which cause a mess on yards, driveways and walkways. Fortunately, birds and wildlife, such as mice, squirrels and opossums, consume elm tree fruits, reducing some of the mess.
The weather during the spring dictates when an elm tree starts its annual flowering and fruiting. In a mild, Mediterranean climate, frosts do not threaten to kill elm seed crops; however, a wet spring can delay pollination. Flowers typically appear within two weeks of pollination, which occurs as early as February. Elm trees begin to fruit soon after the flowers appear. The fruit of the elm tree ripens and falls from the tree, with the fruiting and flowering cycle drawing to a close by the middle to the end of March.
The age of your elm tree plays a large role in when the tree starts to produce fruit. You will find both yellow and gray morel mushrooms growing near logs, under decomposing leaves, under dying elm trees, ash trees, popular trees, and pine trees, or in old apple orchards. However, morels do not require trees to grow.
Legend has it that morels grow best at the base of dead elm trees, a myth that Jon Farrar attributes to the morel bonanza that followed the die-off of American elms in the s due to Dutch elm disease.
The tips of a dead elm tree will have many little finger-like branches. The bark will be slipping from the tree and missing up to half of the bark. Sure enough, morels love growing under old apple trees.
Morels have a distinctive shape, eerily similar to brain coral in surface, with elfin-like rounded turrets that poke up out of the ground, leaning this way and that. Morels particularly like apple trees, poplar, and elm, but can be found just about anywhere. For more than thirty years, they served morels, drawing in crowds from all over the country. But generally the best places to find morels are near trees, creek beds and mayflowers, said Paden.
They grow most commonly under apple, elm, hickory, pine, poplar, and sycamore trees. Sycamore, elm and walnut trees will also attract morels, but never oak. If you find a morel in an oak forest, take a look around, because I bet there is an ash tree close by.
They generally grow near ash, sycamore, aspen, and coniferous trees, and are most commonly found in Northern and Western North America though they certainly do grow in Eastern North America. Yellow morels grow in burned areas, too. The lower areas creeks and ravines of hilly ground are normally pretty good for morel mushroom hunting.
A fallen, dead cottonwood tree like this one in a wooded creek bottom in hilly terrain would be a prime spot to look for morel mushrooms. Morels like it when it starts to get around 60 degrees and above during the day, and night temperatures hover around 40 degrees.
Also, get yourself a soil thermometer and check the temperature of the soil where you hunt. Morels start popping up when the earth gets between 45 and 50 degrees. You might find that only a small number of these seeds will actually grow, so aim to sow them densely — maybe a few hundred in a seed tray or 5mm apart in a seedbed. If you are sowing outside, watch out for the wind!
Cover the seeds with grit or compost to a depth of mm and firm. Expect to see young seedlings in just a few weeks after sowing. If the weather is cool, it will take a little longer than in warmer weather. It is essential that these seeds are kept moist for the first few weeks. Water daily, maybe twice daily in warm, dry weather. Reduce watering once the seedlings have grown one or two centimetres. Those plants grown in trays or pots should be thinned or transplanted to allow them enough space to develop.
In a seed bed they can be left for the next two growing seasons to provide you with a strong plant for final transplanting. Prepare the site well by clearing away any weeds or grass and make a hole big enough to accommodate the root ball.
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