TERFEZIA FANFANI Mattirolo 1900
Malpighia 14: 71 (1900)
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Synonyms:
Elaphomyces trappei R. Galán & G. Moreno, Mycotaxon 42: 206 (1991)
Terfezia trappei (R. Galán & G. Moreno) A. Paz & Lavoise, Persoonia 38: 231 (2017)
Macroscopic characters:
Ascomata: hypogeous to partially emergent at maturity, 2–5 cm in size, subglobose, obpyriform, sometimes lobed, often with a conical base, sometimes with a basal depression, reddish-brown at first, darkening with age, frequent black spots in sun-exposed areas, surface somewhat roughened, often cracked.
Peridium: 0.6–1 mm thick, whitish in cross section, pseudoparenchymatous, composed of subglobose and angular cells, sometimes elongated, 15–40 µm diam, hyaline with walls 1–2 µm thick in the innermost layers, yellowish with thicker walls in the outermost layers.
Gleba: solid, fleshy, succulent, whitish with pale pink pockets at first, maturing to olive-green, blackish-grey pockets of fertile tissue separated by whitish sterile veins.
Odour: faint, not distinctive.
Taste: mild, pleasant, gastronomically prized.
Distribution, Habitat and Season:
Widely distributed in the western half of the Iberian Peninsula, in areas with a Mediterranean climate, very common in the grasslands of Extremadura, in acid soils, exclusively associated with Tuberaria guttata, March through April, appearing before Terfezia arenaria on shallow slate soils. Its fruiting period is highly dependent on rainfall and temperature, and the species may be absent in years when conditions are unfavourable.
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Microscopic characters:
Asci: nonamyloid, subglobose to ellipsoid, ovoid, sessile or short-stipitate, 70–80 x 55–70 µm, wall 1 µm thick, with 6–8 irregularly disposed spores, randomly arranged in fertile pockets.
Ascospores: globose, (18–)19–22(–24) µm diam (median = 21 µm) including ornament, 14–17(–18) µm diam (median = 16 µm) without ornament, hyaline, smooth and uniguttulate at first, by maturity yellow ochre and ornamented with conical spines, pointed, straight, separated, (2–)3–4(–5) µm long, 1(–2) µm wide at the base.
Comments:
The most distinctive characters of Terfezia fanfani are: reddish colour (known locally in Extremadura as rojilla), spring season, association with Tuberaria guttata in acid soils, pseudoparenchymatous peridium, and spores ornamented with conical, pointed, straight, separate spines up to 5 µm long.
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