Very simple things for beginners

There is no such thing as spring mushrooms, or "murķeļi"!

As soon as spring mushrooms—acceptable not just to observers but to foragers, too—start poking their noses out of the ground, "morel wars" break out online. Everyone calls these mushrooms whatever they like, based on what they learned as children from their grannies, relatives, friends, neighbours, and so on. Let them, but one should not forget that every mushroom has its own official Latvian name. If you want to give advice, start with this name first (you can mention all your other variants in brackets).

The use of the word "murķelis" causes misunderstandings, so it is better not to use it at all! This name originated as an old translation error. If we look at mushroom names in other languages: English – Morel, German – die Morchel, Latin – Morchella, in Latvian it is lāčpurns. Conversely, English – false Morel, German – Die Lorchel, Latin – Gyromitra, in Latvian it is bisīte. Unfortunately, as a result of an incorrect translation, the word "murķelis" has "stuck" to the wrong (false) mushroom, and in common parlance, "murķeļi" most often refers precisely to false morels (bisītes), not true morels (lāčpurnus, as would be correct).

The confusion regarding names is all the more dangerous because the true morel (lāčpurns) is considered a delicacy, whereas the false morel (bisīte)—much as many would hate to believe it—is a poisonous mushroom! Yes, no one has died from eating false morels in recent years, but there have been serious cases of poisoning resulting in hospitalisation! Among acquaintances, I know of about 10 cases of poisoning, although these ended only in a fright without the need for hospitalisation. The symptoms vary greatly. Poisoning does not necessarily mean fatality, so it is better to keep those annoying comments like "I eat them and I'm still alive" to yourself. Everyone, of course, is free to poison themselves with whatever they like, but there is no need to teach others to do the same.
*utilises material published in the Facebook group Latvian Mycological Society and Friends and a photograph from zemeunvalsts.lv