Jan - I'm sorry I can't help you. And I can see why you would be leary. My German Grandfather used to have a saying about mushrooms:

There are old mushroom pickers
And there are bold mushroom pickers
But there are no old, bold mushroom pickers.

Maybe someone here has more knowledge and they can help you.

I'd be verrrry careful. Maybe check out a mushroom ID website. Years ago my DH and I thought we'd get into picking wild mushrooms, but when we bought a field guide and saw how much some of the poisonous ones look like the edibles, we abandoned our project.

When I was a kid, a family in my neighborhood died from eating mushrooms. We're talking Buffalo NY sometime in the 1950's. I'm very wary of mushrooms. I trust grocery stores. I wouldn't trust something I found growing wild.

The only sure way to tell about mushrooms is by looking at the spores under a microscope by an expert.
When I was working in a doctor's office one of our patients are some mushrooms from his backyard. His grandfather said they were good to eat......the patient died waiting for a liver transplant.
Please proceed with caution.

Many years ago, I learbed in a Botany class that the only reliable way to be sure was to examine the gill and spore structure on the underside. Mushrooms fall into two basic types, but I don't remember the identifying details. I stick to one mushroom, the morel, the one my mother gathered exclusively. Later, I found a danger in this since there is another mushroom (posionous) that appears very much like the morel. In fact, its common name is the False Morel. The two can be separated by the profile of their shape, but beware.

First.........what part of the USA are you from?

It HAS to be the Mid-West..............

It is THE "Morel mushroom" you are talking about!

Awesomely/treasured among ALL hunters and beyond any description of good eating! ONLY a died in the wool 'shoomer knows/appreciated the BEST!!!!

I live in Nevada and seen these 'shmooms @ $15.00/pound!
I am thankful. I have friends in Iowa that dehydrate them and then mail them to me!

clarification..........Morel mushooms are on the ground!
NOT aattached to trees/stumps/etc!

Thanks to all who responded. Yes, I am in the midwest, about 48 miles northwest of Chicago. And these are not morel mushrooms. From research, I believe they are in the sheephead family. I know enough about tree mushrooms to know that even the safe ones can cause problems depending on the type of tree they grow on. I just wanted to try and find out if these were the mushrooms I remember from my childhood back in the 40's. I appreciate the help and will keep trying to find out.

Jan