Truffle Genus: Wakefieldia

Wakefieldia macrospora basidiospore

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

Spore Characters

Surface: Irregularly pitted to warty.
Shape and Size: Globose to subglobose, 12-19 x 12-17.5 µm; attachment straight.
Wall: Single, thick.
Color in Water: Golden brown.
Melzer's Reaction: Not distinctive.
Comments: Hawker (1954) and Pegler and Young (1979) placed Wakefieldia in the Hydnangiaceae and Octavianiniaceae, respectively. The spore shape, ornamentation, and color would seem to relate Wakefieldia more closely to the Strobilomycetaceae sensu Pegler and Young (1981) than to the above-named families, however.

View photos of Wakefieldia spores

Sporocarp Characters

Shape and Size: 0.5-2.5 cm broad, globose to irregular.
Peridium: Dingy white, smooth, thin.
Gleba: Pink-purple to brown-purple, with small, empty chambers. Lacking a columella.
Odor: Not distinctive.

View photos of Wakefieldia sporocarps

Name Derivation

Not specified by Edred Toba Henry Corner (1906-1997) and William Edith Hawker (1908-1991) (1953) but probably in honor of the 20th century British mycologist, Elsie M. Wakefield (1886-1972).

Distribution

The single North Temperate species is known only from Gloucestershire, England. Another species from Malaya has warty-ridged spores.
Season: Throughout the year.
Species known from North Temperate Forests: Only W. macrospora (Hawker) Hawker.

Keys and Descriptions

Hawker (1954), Pegler and Young (1979), and Montecchi and Sarasini (2000).