Truffle Genus: Mycolevis
 Mycolevis siccigleba basidiospore |
Kingdom: Fungi Phylum: Basidiomycota Order: Russulales Family: Albatrellaceae |
Spore Characters
Surface: Covered with crowded spines.
Shape and Size: Longitudinally symmetrical, globose to ellipsoid, 8-14 (-18) x 9-12 (-16) µm; basal attachment with a collar.
Wall: The spines appear to project from an inner wall layer 1-2 µm thick into an outer mucilaginous layer.
Color in Water: Hyaline.
Melzer's Reaction: Spines and basal collar turn purple.
Comments: The spores are distinctive in their strongly amyloid ornamentation and basal collar. Fogel (1976) described and illustrated them in elegant detail. The ornamentation as seen by electron microscopy is somewhat different than it appears with light microscopy.
View photos of Mycolevis spores
Sporocarp Characters
Shape and Size: Subglobose and even in outline to irregular, 1-5 cm broad.
Peridium: Minutely pubescent, white in youth, but developing pale yellow to green-yellow or olive hues with age.
Gleba: White in youth, in age becoming pale olive, with empty, globose chambers, more or less dry. Columella occasionally present.
Odor: Fruity to unpleasant.
View photos of Mycolevis sporocarps