Urnula craterium
During morel mushroom season, which is spring in Illinois, woodland wild mushroom hunters often encounter rows of these dark chocolate-brown, vaselike cups of fungi popping up beside oak logs and twigs. The Devil’s Urn, as this morel-season regular is commonly called, resembles the deliciously edible Black Trumpet (Craterellus cornucopioides), a summer mushroom that first occurs from late May in southern Illinois until early autumn statewide. These rubbery look-alikes are not the famed Black Trumpet, and they’re not worth eating. Fortunately, the Devil’s Urn won’t be a temptation for summer Black Trumpet hunters because this species occurs only during spring--the only season morels can be found in Illinois.