MOREL HUNTERS WILL PURSUE PREY OVER WEEKEND

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Under budding hickory tree leaves, amidst may apple plants close to the ground, morel mushrooms are popping up overnight.

The distinctive ruffled mushrooms are a welcome sight to Larry Lonik, a morel expert who is in Southern Illinois on his annual trek in search of mushrooms.

Lonik will be joined by hundreds of morel hunters tramping through the woods near Jonesboro this weekend during the annual Mid-American Morel Mushroom Festival. The festival will be held at the Trail of Tears Lodge and Sport Resort Saturday and Sunday, rain or shine.

About 1,000 people are expected over the two days.

About 10,000 mushrooms varieties have been identified around the world. "Of those, about 25 are good to eat, and about 12 can kill you," Lonik said. That's why mushroom hunting is considered dangerous by some.

But morels, he explained, have a distinctive look and no real copycats. "That makes them the safest."

Morel mushrooms are also the most popular. Lonik said some 10 million people have been morel hunting.

Morels grow in every state, in Canada, in Europe and in South America. The mushrooms have about a three-week season in the spring, brought on by daytime temperatures in the 70s and evening temperatures in the 40s. In Southern Illinois, the black morels appear first, followed soon by white morels. Both can be found this weekend.

The mushroom harvest moves north by about 100 miles a week. Lonik will follow the mushrooms into Canada before returning home to Detroit, Mich.

The untrained eye might never spot a morel mushroom. Nestled in last year's leaf cover, the mushrooms can be overlooked as wrinkled leaves or decaying limbs.

But Lonik says the pointed, Christmas tree shape gives a morel away. Carefully picking his way through the hills in Southern Illinois Tuesday afternoon, he found a dozen in just a few minutes.

During the festival, mushroom hunters will be competing against each other to collect the most morels within two hours.

Across the country, morel hunters are also seeking out the mushrooms for profit. The mushrooms are sought after by chefs as a delicacy. "It tastes like sirloin steak with no calories," Lonik said.

Fresh morels bring about $20 a pound. Dried, the mushrooms go for about $15 an ounce. Lonik collects enough morels each season to finance next year's trek.

During the off season, he also writes books about mushrooms, especially about morels.

He is also promoting mushroom spore distribution. Mushrooms should be collected in mesh bags, he explained. This allows the microscopic spores to escape and reproduce new plants.

Lonik has been hunting morels since he was 6 years old. His father taught him the secrets of finding mushrooms. "I haven't missed a season in 44 years," he said. "It's like a treasure hunt, and I look forward to it every year."

The Trail of Tears Lodge is on the Reynoldsville Road, a right turn off Route 3 just north of McClure. Festival events begin at 7 a.m., with a workshop for beginners.