Growing up in McDowell Co., WV - starting young, we were taught to "hunt"...ginseng, blood root, yellow root, etc.
We were also taught to carry drinking water, watch out for snakes, and always replant the berries so more would come back in later seasons.
If you've spent anytime in those parts..."hunting"...then you know that the pickings are pretty scarce.
In '77 we moved to Ross Co., Ohio and we (kids) thought we'd hit the jackpot on roots!
... then we discovered mushrooms...the Morel variety.
Unlike the plants that grow all season, morels only pop up for a few days under certain conditions - the weather has to be really warm & wet in the spring.
I never found the first one..until recently!
For the last two years I've found one (twice) growing on the edge of the pavement behind our garage.
Not what anyone would call prime morel real estate but it always makes me happy to see them come and go...
...like mushrooms have a tendency to do...