Morels, Truffles and other Spring Mushrooms
by Michael W. Beug Email: beugm@evergreen.edu
The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA
Slide 31.
This species is either Tuber separans or Tuber
levissimum, superbly edible true White Truffles that can only be
distinguished when the spores are fully mature. Unfortunately for the mycophagist,
the flavor is superb only when the truffles are fully mature and giving
off their delightful garlicky odor. The number of known truffle species
worldwide is 60, and there are probably more than a dozen species of White
Truffles with many more still to be named and more still yet to be discovered.
All known Tuber species are edible, many are choice. They
grow under hardwoods and conifers whenever the weather is neither too cold
nor too dry. The trick is to find them when mature and to do so without
digging up acres of forest floor for a handful of mushrooms. I watch for
fresh small mammal diggings as a clue. Look for little pits an inch or
two deep, not burrows.
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