Geopora cooperi

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Geopora cooperi
Geopora cooperi.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Pezizomycetes
Order: Pezizales
Family: Pyronemataceae
Genus: Geopora
Species:
G. cooperi
Binomial name
Geopora cooperi
Harkn. (1885)
Geopora cooperi
Information icon.svg
Gleba icon.png Glebal hymenium
NA cap icon.svg Hymenium attachment is irregular or not applicable
NA cap icon.svgLacks a stipe
Mycorrhizal fungus.svgEcology is mycorrhizal
Mycomorphbox Edible.pngEdibility is edible

Geopora cooperi, commonly known as the pine truffle or the fuzzy truffle, is a species of fungus in the family Pyronemataceae. It has a fuzzy brown outer surface and an inner surface of whitish, convoluted folds of tissue. Widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, the species has been recorded from Asia, Europe, and North America.

Contents

Taxonomy

First described by American mycologist Harvey Willson Harkness in 1885, [1] the fungus is named for the original collector, J.D. Cooper. [2] It is commonly known as the "pine truffle" [3] or the "fuzzy truffle". [4]

Description

The outer surface is brown and felt-like. Geopora cooperi 138401.jpg
The outer surface is brown and felt-like.

The roughly spherical fruit bodies grow underground. Ranging from 2 to 8 cm (34 to 3+18 in) in diameter, they are yellow-brown to darker brown with a fuzzy, furrowed external surface. [2] The inside of the fruit body, the whitish gleba, comprises deeply folded and convoluted tissue with some internal open spaces between them. [4] [5] Young pine truffles ooze a whitish juice when they are cut. [2] The odor of the internal flesh is usually mild, but David Arora has noted the existence of a form in the Western United States that smells similar to fermented cider. Geopora cooperi fruit bodies are edible [4] and considered good by some. [5]

The smooth, elliptical or roughly spherical spores measure 18–27 by 13–21 μm and have an oil droplet. The asci (spore-bearing cells) are typically eight-spored. They are arranged as a palisade of cells forming a hymenium that covers the inner surfaces of the internal folds. [4]

Habitat and distribution

Fruit bodies grow singly or in groups under the soil surface near conifers and Eucalyptus trees. In the field, they can sometimes be detected by the mound of soil they push up as they grow. [3] In western North America, it is found from Mexico to as far north as Alaska. Specimens from the latter location have been found under aspen and willow trees. Geopora cooperi is a snowbank mushroom, as it commonly occurs after snow has melted. [4] The fungus has also been recorded in China, [6] western Asia (Turkey), [7] Pakistan, [8] and Europe. [9] In Turkey, it is considered critically endangered. [10]

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<i>Rhizopogon evadens</i> Species of fungus

Rhizopogon evadens is a truffle-like fungus in the family Rhizopogonaceae. Found in North America, it was described as new to science by American mycologist Alexander H. Smith in 1966. The fungus produces roundish to irregularly shaped fruitbodies measuring 2–5 cm (0.8–2.0 in) in diameter, with irregular lobes, wrinkles and depressions on the surface. The peridium is whitish with light yellow to brown stains, and bruises red. The fungus has an unpleasant odor and a taste described as "metallic". Typical tree associates include pine, Douglas fir, and hemlock. Initially white, the gleba turn olive to olive-brown in maturity, with the contents developing a gelatinous consistency. The smooth spores of R. evadens are narrowly ellipsoid in shape, and measure 6–8 by 2–2.3 μm.

<i>Paurocotylis pila</i> A saprobic, truffle-like ascomycete

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References

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