by Lowell Washburn
I spotted the season’s first bright yellow dandelion flower in Cerro Gordo County on Friday, April 28. So did at least three other people that I’ve heard from, and I can tell you that we’re all pretty excited over the dandelion’s appearance.
Of course, not everyone would share our joy. For many, the dandelion is categorized as a noxious weed. A few – we’ll call them lawn care fanatic extremists – even go so far as to spray these beautiful plants with deadly chemical sprays. Nuke the dandelions!
Those of us who love the “weed” do so for good reason. You see, of all the myths, legends, and folklore, the emergence of lowly dandelion is the world’s most reliable, 100 percent accurate indicator of when another Iowa plant will appear on the scene. That plant is the coveted morel mushroom.
Morel mushrooms are, hands down, our most popular wild edible. Safe, easy to identify, and absolutely delicious on the table, morels lure ‘shrooming enthusiasts to the spring woodlands by the thousands. Hunting them can become an obsession and secret hotspots are guarded to the death. On most years, the season is short and timing is critical. Knowing exactly when to hunt for morels is equally as important as where you hunt.
Temperature and moisture are great indicators of when local morel crops are about to emerge. In order to fruit, morel mushrooms need heat. An ideal climate would provide soil temperatures of at least 50 degrees with nighttime air temps in the low to mid-50s and daytime highs reaching around 70 degrees. High humidity along with a few well-timed showers will greatly enhance the annual crop. But although these factors can narrow your search window, they are less than absolute, which brings us back to the despised dandelion.
Here are the hardcore mushroom hunting facts. Love it or hate it, the lowly dandelion is the only absolute rock solid, will-never-ever-let-you-down predictor of when morel mushrooms will annually reach their peak. When the first bright yellow dandelion flowers appear on open lawns or pastures,
