A widely distributed relict of the last Ice Age, M. tridentina is so far known from Argentina, Armenia, Chile, Cyprus, France, India, Israel, North America, Spain and Turkey.

[1] In a 2012 publication by Michael Kuo and colleagues,[7] the taxon Morchella frustrata was described as new to science from Placer County, California, to accommodate the phylogenetic lineage defined the year before by DNA sequencing as "Mel-2".

[13][1][2][14] A 2017 study by Du and colleagues investigated the reproductive modes, mating type and life cycle of fourteen morel species including M. tridentina.

Its white surface is smooth or finely mealy with whitish granules (having hyaline erect "hairs" when viewed under a microscope).

Spores appear smooth in normal light microscopy, but when viewed under a scanning electron microscope or in the appropriate staining medium, they can be inconspicuously sculpted.

[16] The asci (spore-bearing cells) measure 225–330 by 15–25 μm and are cylindrical, eight-spored, and hyaline (translucent) when mounted in dilute (2%) potassium hydroxide (KOH).

"[18] However, the vertically arranged pits and ridges, as well as the slight indentation where the cap meets the stem on M. tridentina, more closely resemble the black morels such as M. elata.

The latter is further distinguished by an adnate cap lacking a sinus and a distinct dark pruinescence on the stem, more pronounced in young fruit bodies.

So far, its presence has been molecularly verified in Argentina,[21] Armenia,[22] Chile,[17] Cyprus,[2] France,[1] India,[23] Israel,[22] North America,[8] Spain[1] and Turkey.

Its exact trophic mode is not yet known with certainty, but it is suspected to be facultatively biotrophic and may form endosymbiotic associations with a wide array of trees and shrubs.

[24][25] Tree species associated with the fungus in North America include pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii), oaks (Quercus spp.

[7] In Europe it is often found with holm oak (Quercus ilex), strawberry trees (Arbutus andrachne), olive trees (Olea europaea), Spanish fir (Abies pinsapo), Silver fir (Abies alba), Calabrian pine (Pinus brutia), and Scot's pine (P.

[2][27] According to a 2021 study by Loizides and colleagues revising the evolutionary history of Morchella, this species is more likely to be a climatic relict, whose once wider distribution probably became fragmented during the Quaternary glaciations.