Truffle Genus: Longia

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

Spore Characters

Surface: Smooth.
Shape and Size: Slightly obovoid to subglobose, 6.2-7.5 x 5-6.3 µm, sterigmal scar present.
Wall: Single, 0.5-1.0 µm.
Color in Water: Red-brown to dark brown.
Melzer's Reaction: Not distinctive.
Comments: Spores can't be distinguished from Gyrophragmium but are smaller than Neosecotium.

Sporocarp Characters

Shape and Size: Agaricoid with stem, subglobose to broadly convex, 5-12 cm tall x 3-9 cm wide. Columella present.
Peridium: Smooth or scaly, cream or buff becoming dark brown or gray.
Gleba: Anastomosed gills, black to dark brown.
Odor: Not recorded.
Comments: Longia can be distinguished from Gyrophragmium because it lacks the persistent universal veil or volva (Zeller, 1943).

View photos of Longia sporocarps

Name Derivation

Coined by distinguished Oregon mycologist and plant pathologist, Sanford Zeller (1884-1948) (1943) in honor of western U.S. mycologist William Henry Long, a specialist in puffballs.

Distribution

In semiarid locations, central Texas to Oregon.
Season: February to November.
Species known from North Temperate Forests: One, L. texensis.

Keys and Descriptions

Massee (1890) describes the lone species of this genus as Gyrophragmium texense. Zeller (1943) provides the new genus description.