Truffle Genus: Marthanella

Kingdom: Fungi Phylum: Basidiomycota Order: Boletales Family: Hymenogasteraceae

Spore Characters

Surface: Smooth.
Shape and Size: Subglobose to ellipsoid, (3-4) 5-7 µm.
Wall: Single, slightly thick.
Color in Water: Hyaline to pale yellow-green.
Melzer's Reaction: Weakly dextrinoid. Difficult to distinguish from Rhizopogon ellipsospores.

Sporocarp Characters

Shape and Size: Mostly globose to subglobose, 5-25 x 5-20 mm.
Peridium: Three-layered, outer layer floccose with adhering debris, white to cream, browning in age.
Gleba: Gelatinous and spongy when young, when mature, moist and composed of multiple subglobose peridioles. White to pale gray with green tints. Cut sections exude small amounts of clear viscous fluid (States and Fogel, 1999).
Odor: Not recorded.

Name Derivation

Named by distinguished U.S. mycologists Jack States and Robert Fogel (1999) in honor of Dr. Martha Christensen, a distinguished American mycologist.

Distribution

From a mixed deciduous/conifer forest in Arizona.
Season: April.
Species known from North Temperate Forests: One, Marthanella nidulosa.

Keys and Descriptions

States and Fogel (1999).