Verpa conica
species of fungus
Verpa conica, commonly known as the bell morel or the early morel, is a species of fungus in the family Morchellaceae. Sometimes mistaken for a true morel, this species is characterized by a cap resembling a thimble that is freely attached to the stipe.
Taxonomy
The species was first described under the name Phallus conicus by Otto Friedrich Müller in 1775. Later authors have moved the taxon to various genera: Persoon placed in Leotia in 1801, Samuel Frederick Gray transferred it Relhanum in 1821, while Otto Kuntze moved it to Monka in 1898. The species was transferred to Verpa by Olof Swartz in 1814.
Description
Fruiting bodies have a smooth cap that is bell-shaped or conical, and 1 to 4 cm (3⁄8 to 1+5⁄8 in) tall and broad; it is attached to the top of the stipe only, the margin of the cap is free – hanging like a skirt. The underside of the cap is tan to dark brown in color. The stipe, which measures 2 to 12 cm (3⁄4 to 4+3⁄4 in) by 1 to 3 cm (3⁄8 to 1+1⁄8 in) thick, is whitish and either equal or slightly thicker than the base; the stipe surface is either smooth or slightly fuzzy. It is generally hollow, although young specimens may be filled with cotton-like hyphae. The flesh is thin and brittle, and the cap can be easily broken off the stipe.
The public source identifies “Verpa conica” as species of fungus. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Verpa, conica and species.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 14, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1417061. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1775, 1801, 1821 and 1898.
Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Verpa conica” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.