When the soil warms in April and May, the Midwest and Appalachia erupt into America's great morel hunt, with festivals, fierce secrecy over patches, and roadside sales. The same hardwood forests — oak, ash, elm, hickory — yield hen-of-the-woods at the base of oaks and chicken-of-the-woods on stumps in autumn. It is one of the most accessible foraging cultures in North America, anchored by clubs and state mycological societies.
Spring morels, then a secondary autumn hardwood flush.