[2] Hence its common name, Discina gigas resembles true morels, Morchella ssp.

[9] A very similar and directly related species, D. montana, occurs in North America; it apparently has larger spores than D. gigas.

[9][11] It contains small quantities of hydrazines;[12] its content in gyromitrin was scientifically assessed by Viernstein et al. [Botanical identification 1980] and resulted of about 1mg per kg of fresh mushroom (roughly 1,500-fold less compared to that of Gyromitra esculenta).

However, consumption is not recommended due to variability and similarity to other more toxic species of the genus Gyromitra.

[9] This fungus has been banned for sale in France since 1991 due to potential toxicity, the effects of which would cause a fairly rare fatal neurodegenerative disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).