morel, in botany; a genus of the order of fungi, belonging to the cryptogamia class of plants. The fungus is reticulated above and smooth below. There are two species.

1. The esculentus, or esculent morel, is a native of Britain, growing in woods, groves, meadows, pastures, &c. The substance, when recent, is wax-like and friable; the colour a whitish yellow, turning brownish in decay; the height of the whole fungus, about four or five inches. The stalk is thick and clumsy, somewhat tuberous at the base, and hollow in the middle. The pileus is either round or conical; at a medium about the size of an egg, often much larger; hollow within; its base united to the stalk; and its surface cellular, or latticed with irregular sinuses. The magnified seeds are oval. It is much esteemed at table both recent and dried, being commonly used as an ingredient to heighten the flavour of ragouts. We are informed by Gleditsch, that morels are observed to grow in the woods of Germany in the greatest plenty in those places where charcoal has been made. Hence the good women who collect them to sell, receiving a hint how to encourage their growth, have been accustomed to make fires in certain places of the woods, with heath, broom, vaccinium, and other materials, in order to obtain a more plentiful crop. This strange method of cultivating morels being however sometimes attended with dreadful consequences, large woods having been set on fire and destroyed by it, the magistrate thought fit to interpose his authority, and the practice is now interdicted.

2. The impudicus, stinking morel, or flukhorn, is also a native of Britain, and found in woods and on banks. It arises from the earth under a veil or volva, shaped exactly like a hen's egg, and of the same colour, having a long fibrous radicle at its base. This egg-like volva is composed of two coats or membranes, the space between which is full of a thick, viscid, transparent matter, which, when dry, glues the coats together, and shines like varnish. In the next stage of growth, the volva suddenly bursts into several lacertated permanent segments, from the centre of which arises an erect, white, cellular, hollow stalk, about five or six inches high and one thick, of a wax-like friable substance, and most fetid cadaverous smell, conical at each end, the base inserted in a white, concave, membranaceous turbinated cup, and the summit capped with a hollow, conical pileus, an inch long, having a reticulated cellular surface, its base detached from the stalk, and its summit umbilicated, the umbilicus sometimes perforated and sometimes closed. The under side of this pileus is covered with a clear, viscid, gelatinous matter, similar to that found between the membranes of the volva: and under this viscid matter, concealed in reticulated receptacles, are found the seeds, which when magnified appear spherical. As soon as the volva bursts, the plant begins to diffuse its intolerable odours, which are so powerful and widely expanded, that the fungus may be readily discovered by the scent only, before it appears to the sight. At this time, the viscid matter between the coats of the volva grows turbid and fulvous; and when the plant attains its full maturity, the clear viscid substance in the pileus becomes gradually discoloured, putrid, and extremely fetid, and soon afterwards turns blackish, and, together with the seeds and internal part of the pileus itself, melts away. The fetid smell then begins to retreat, the fungus fades, and continues for a short time fapleti and coriaceous, and at last becomes the food of worms. The cadaverous scent of this fungus greatly allures the flies; which, lighting upon the pileus, are entrapped in the viscid matter, and perish. We are informed by Gleditsch, that the vulgar people in Thuringia call the unopened volvae by the ridiculous name of ghosts and demon's eggs; and that they collect and dry them either in the smoke or open air, and when reduced to powder, use them in a glass of spirits as an aphrodisiac.

Phallus, among the Egyptians, was the emblem of fecundity. It was very fervently worshipped by women, especially by those who were barren. This custom was introduced among the Greeks, and festivals in honour of it were called phalnaca. See Mysteries, no 38, &c. Among the Hindoos a similar emblem called lingam is used, and for similar purposes. See Hindoos, no 4.