Morchella, a true morels belonging to class Ascomycetes, are amongst the most highly prized fungi in the world. It is commonly known as morel, dryland fish, pine cone, guchchhi and sponge mushroom. It is easy to spot due to its distinctive honey combed upper portion which is composed of a network of ridges and pits. Occurrence of 18 species of Morchella are reported from 28 countries, where in altogether 14 species are reported to be edible and used as food and 5 are used medicinally.
In India, majority of Morchella species are reported from North-Western Himalayan region especially Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and hilly tract of Uttar Pradesh which are known to be main Morchella producing sites in India. However, occasional reports revealed its occurrence from Assam, Amritsar, Madhya pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. It was also repoted from Ayodhya during December 2013, 2014 and 2015. Occurrence for Morchella Spp. during three subsequent years indicated its permanent habitat at Ayodhya. (See original)
Cited this as: Siddhant, Ruchira Singh, C.S. Singh, Swapanil Yadav and R.S. Kanaujia (2016): Ayodhya, a new habitat for Genus Morchella. National seminar on "Advances in Plant Science Frontier: Development and Environment" organized by Department of Botany, Gandhi Faiz-e-aam College, Shahjahanpur (U.P.). November 26-27, 2016. P.83-84 (Abstract)