Truffle Genus: Kjeldsenia

Kjeldsenia aurispora basidiospore

Kingdom: Fungi Phylum: Basidiomycota Order: Phallales Family: Claustulaceae

Spore Characters

Surface: Covered with irregularly shaped warts, most less than 1 µm tall.
Shape and Size: Ellipsoid, 7.5-10.5 x (-4) 4.5-4.4 µm excluding hilar appendage.
Wall: Single, +/- 1 µm thick.
Color in Water: Pale yellow to golden.
Melzer's Reaction: Not distinctive.
Comments: Kjeldsenia macroscopically resembles Sclerogaster Hesse (Fogel, 1977) but differs in peridial structure, glebal chambers, and spore characters. Kjeldsenia differs from Hymenogaster by possession of thin-walled, ellipsoid spores lacking a cup-like hilar appendage. Kjeldsenia chambers are empty and lined with a hymenium in contrast to the gel-filled chambers and disorganized hymenium of Destuntzia (Colgan et al., 1995).

View photos of Kjeldsenia spores

Sporocarp Characters

Shape and Size: Subglobose to irregular, 0.4-2 cm in diameter.
Peridium: Slighlty pubescent, white, turning yellow upon handling. Turning red-brown when exposed for long periods.
Gleba: Composed of empty chambers, brown to dark brown with reduced columella.
Odor: Not recorded.

View photos of Kjeldsenia sporocarps

Name Derivation

Named by Wes Colgan III, Michael Castellano, and James Trappe (1995) in honor of Dr. C. K. Kjeldsen, professor of Botany at Sonoma State University, California and mentor of Dr. Colgan.

Distribution

The only known collection was gathered in Mendocino Co., California at 500 ft elevation in a mixed stand of Abies grandis, Lithocarpus densiflora, and Pseudotsuga menziesii.
Season: April.
Species known from North Temperate Forests: One, Kjeldsenia aureispora.

Keys and Descriptions

Colgan et al., (1995).