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''Morchella rufobrunnea'', commonly known as the blushing morel, is a species of ascomycete fungus in the family Morchellaceae. A choice edible species, the fungus was originally described as new to science in 1998 by mycologists Gastón Guzmán and Fidel Tapia from collections made in Veracruz, Mexico. Its distribution was later revealed to be far more widespread after several DNA studies suggested that it is common in the West Coast of the United States, Israel, Australia, and Cyprus. ''M. rufobrunnea'' grows in disturbed soil or in woodchips used in landscaping, suggesting a saprophytic mode of nutrition. Reports from the Mediterranean under olive trees (''Olea europaea''), however, suggest the fungus may also be able to form facultative tree associations. Young fruit bodies have conical, grayish caps covered with pale ridges and dark pits; mature specimens are yellowish to ochraceous-buff. The surface of the fruit body often bruises brownish orange to pinkish where it has been touched, a characteristic for which the fungus is named. Mature fruit bodies grow to a height of . ''M. rufobrunnea'' differs from other ''Morchella'' species by its urban or suburban habitat preferences, in the color and form of the fruit body, the lack of a sinus at the attachment of the cap with the stipe, the length of the pits on the surface, and the bruising reaction. A process to cultivate morels now known to be ''M. rufobrunnea'' was described and patented in the 1980s. ==Taxonomy== The first scientifically described specimens of ''Morchella rufobrunnea'' were collected in June 1996 from the Ecological Institute of Xalapa and other regions in the southern Mexican municipality of Xalapa, which are characterized by a subtropical climate. The type locality is a mesophytic forest containing oak, sweetgum, ''Clethra'' and alder at an altitude of .〔 In a 2008 study, Michael Kuo determined that the "winter fruiting yellow morel"—erroneously referred to as ''Morchella deliciosa''—found in landscaping sites in the western United States was the same species as ''M. rufobrunnea''. According to Kuo,〔 David Arora depicts this species in his popular 1986 work ''Mushrooms Demystified'', describing it as a "coastal Californian form of ''Morchella deliciosa'' growing in gardens and other suburban habitats".〔 Kuo suggests that ''M. rufobrunnea'' is the correct name for the ''M. deliciosa'' used by western American authors.〔 Other North American morels formerly classified as ''deliciosa'' have since been recategorized into two distinct species, ''Morchella diminutiva'' and ''M. sceptriformis'' (=''M. virginiana'').〔 Molecular analysis of nucleic acid sequences from the internal transcribed spacer and elongation factor EF-1α regions suggests that the genus ''Morchella'' can be divided into three lineages. ''M. rufobrunnea'' belongs to a lineage that is basal to the esculenta clade ("yellow morels"), and the elata clade ("black morels").〔〔 This phylogenetic placement implies that it has existed in its current form since the Cretaceous era (roughly 145 to 66 million years ago), and all known morel species evolved from a similar ancestor.〔 ''M. rufobrunnea'' is genetically closer to the yellow morels than the black morels.〔 ''M. anatolica'', described from Turkey in 2012, is a closely related sister species.〔 The specific epithet ''rufobrunnea'' derives from the Latin roots ''ruf-'' (rufuous, reddish) and ''brunne-'' (brown).〔 Vernacular names used for the fungus include "western white morel",〔 "blushing morel",〔 and—accounting for the existence of subtropical species in the "blushing clade"—"red-brown blushing morel".〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Morchella rufobrunnea」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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