Truffle Genus: Descomyces

Descomyces albellus basidiospore

Kingdom: Fungi Phylum: Basidiomycota Order: Agaricales Family: Bolbitiaceae

Spore Characters

Surface: Isolated, irregular warts and short ridges or a fine labyrinthine reticulum; one species has nearly smooth spores.
Shape and Size: Citriform, 11-23 x 7-13 µm.
Wall: Single, thin to thick.
Color in Water: Yellow-brown.
Melzer's Reaction: Dextrinoid, inconsistently.
Comments: Closely related to the agaric genus Descolea. The genus delimitation is largely based on spore morphology and peridium structure (Bougher and Castellano, 1993).

View photos of Descomyces spores

Sporocarp Characters

Shape and Size: Globose, subglobose, or irregular. 5-30 mm in diameter.
Peridium: Thin, white or cream with yellow to yellow-brown fibrils, dry.
Gleba: Dry. At first, white, grey, or cream turning to cinnamon-brown or dark brown at maturity. Composed of irregular, empty chambers. Columella usually absent, when present, forming a dense basal pad with dendroid veins or as a short, truncate columella.
Odor: Mild.

View photos of Descomyces sporocarps

Name Derivation

Named by Australian mycologist Neale Bougher and American colleague Michael Castellano (1993) in reference to the close relationship between this fungus and the agaric genus Descolea.

Distribution

World-wide, native to Southern Hemisphere, often associated with plants in the family Myrtaceae (especially Eucalyptus) and Fagaceae. Introduced into north temperate forests in plantations of Eucalyptus.
Species known from North Temperate Plantations: Three.

Keys and Descriptions

Bougher and Castellano (1993) describe the two species found in exotic Eucalyptus plantations in the Northern Hemisphere.