Morchella capitata

Morchella capitata is a later synonym of Morchella exuberans. Originally identified as phylogenetic species Mel-9, it was described as new to science in 2012 by Kuo and colleagues.^[1] In 2014 however, Richard and colleagues clarified the taxonomic status of this species,^[2] retaining the name Morchella exuberans of Clowez (2012)^[3] over M. capitata.

Morchella capitata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Ascomycota
Class:	Pezizomycetes
Order:	Pezizales
Family:	Morchellaceae
Genus:	Morchella
Species:	M. capitata
Binomial name
Morchella capitata M.Kuo & M.C.Carter (2012)

It is a cosmopolitan, post-fire fungus in the family Morchellaceae, shown to occur in at least three continents, and is one of four species of fire-adapted morels in western North America (the others being M. eximia, M. sextelata, and M. tomentosa). It has also been found in Turkey,^[4] Sweden,^[4] China^[5] and Cyprus,^[6] but remains unclear whether dispersal between these distant locations occurred naturally or through accidental introduction by humans.^[5]