Tuber rufum Pico var. nigrum Mattirolo
Nuovo Giornale Botanico Italiano 34(5): 1347, without illustration (1927)
Synonyms:
Tuber rufum Pico var. oungloun Bonnet (1883) in Roumeguère Funghi gallici exsiccati nº 2816
Tuber rufum Pico f. melanica Cetto (1993) in I funghi dal vero 7: 583, pl. 2952
Macroscopic characters:
Ascomata: hypogeous, subglobose or irregular in shape, 1–3 cm across, blackish brown, warted. Warts minute, pyramidal, flattened.
Gleba: hard, solid; whitish at first, becoming pinkish ochre, dark brown at maturity, marbled with two types of numerous, thin, branching veins: one type dark-coloured and containing no air (venae lymphaticae, veines aquifères of Tulasne, venae internae of Vittadini), the other white and air-bearing (air-veins, veines aérifères, venae externae).
Odour: strong, truffle-like.
Taste: faint, not very persistent, nutty.
Habitat
Found in Mediterranean holm oak forests, in shady situations.
Notes:
The most distinctive features are the blackish, warted peridium and the large, ellipsoid spores.
Microscopic characters:
Asci: subglobose to broadly clavate or pyriform, long- or short-stalked, 50–80 × 40–60 µm excluding stalk, 1–4 (–5)-spored (usually 3–4-spored).
Ascospores: 24–45 × 17–28 µm excluding ornament, size variable depending on the number of spores per ascus, Q range = 1.41–2.11, ellipsoid, ochre-yellow, translucent, ornamented with isolated conical spines 2–4 µm long.
Peridium: 400–500 µm thick, composed of agglutinated, interwoven hyphae (textura intricata), becoming pseudoparenchymatous towards the surface and forming subglobose, thick-walled cells in a superficial layer up to 50 µm thick.
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Antonio Rodríguez trufamania@gmail.com antonio@trufamania.com |