I have loved mushrooms since childhood, and I have also been a programmer for a long time. Combining these two hobbies, I wrote this website. Previously, I had two other mushroom identification sites, which I sold. Only one of them remains accessible today. My goal with the current site is to create an easy-to-use search and identification platform that works great both in the field and at home. I hope it brings joy to others.
Bartha László
Species flashcards
Practice area: created for the 303-species Hungarian mushroom inspector requirement. It is not an official examination; requirements in other countries may differ.
Striped-spored deer truffle
Elaphomyces virgatosporus
not edible
Protected · 5 000 Ft
- Habitat: deciduous
- Fruiting season: January – December
- Cap: globular bumpy
- Stem: none
- Fertile layer: veined
Description
Fruiting body: 1–3.5 cm across, developing underground, globular to irregularly tuberous. The rind is dark brown to nearly black and densely covered with small warts; it is often coated with compact soil and reddish-brown mycelial strands.
Fertile layer: Located inside the fruiting body. The gleba is grey, becoming darker with age, and is bordered by a thick cream-white inner rind.
Stem: No stem is present.
Flesh: Hard, dry and brittle. Because it develops underground, the fruiting body is often heavily coated with soil and bound to it by outer mycelial strands.
Spores: The spore mass is dark brown to blackish-brown. Spores are globose, 16–22 µm in diameter, with long parallel wavy ridges that are 2–3 µm high.
Occurrence: May occur throughout the year because its fruiting bodies are persistent. A very rare hypogeous mycorrhizal species of old calcareous deciduous woodland, especially near hazel, oak, hornbeam and beech.
Edibility: Not edible. It is protected and its fruiting bodies must not be collected or damaged.
Lookalikes: It may resemble common deer truffle, spotted deer truffle, patinated deer truffle and umbilicate deer truffle. The parallel wavy spore ridges are a reliable microscopic character.
Note: Elaphomyces combines Greek words meaning deer and mushroom. Virgatosporus refers to the striped, ridged spore surface.
Species description: Scientifically described by László Hollós in 1908.
Taxonomy
- PhylumAscomycota
- ClassEurotiomycetes
- OrderEurotiales
- FamilyElaphomycetaceae
- GenusElaphomyces
- Species: Elaphomyces virgatosporus
- Authority: Hollós (1908)
- English name: Striped-spored deer truffle
- Ecological status: mycorrhizal
- Edibility: not edible
