137 
TUBER EXCAFATUM, Fitt., AND THE OTHER BRITISH 
TRUFFLES. 
By M. C. Cooke, Esq. 
(Plate XXX. Fig. 1-6.) 
Having been solicited to furnish the letterpress for the Plate on 
which has been figured Tiiher excavatum^ Vitt., for the discovery of 
which as a British plant we are indebted to Mr. W. G. Smith, I have 
taken advantage of the opportunity to collect together descriptions of 
all the species of the genus Tuber luthddo found in this country. This 
has been done under the conviction that every attempt at concentra- 
ting the characters of the species, in the different genera and families 
of British Fungi, will be welcomed by those who have neither time nor 
opportunity to search for them in the numerous works through which 
they are scattered. Moreover, I would hope that the removal of some 
of the acknowledged difficulties will tend to increase the number of 
workers in a field where plenty of work still remains to be done. 
Sect. K.—Epispore alveolate. 
1. Tuber asiivum^ Yitt, From one to three inches in diameter, 
irregularly globose. The warts on the surface of the peridium large, 
four- to six-sided, longitudinally and irregularly sulcate, the apex 
pierced or excavated and traversed chiefly about the crown with shal- 
low parallel strise. Sporidia ellipsoid, pallid tawny-yellow ; epispore 
faveolo-pKcate. — Tuber (estivum^ Vitt. Mon. Tub. p. 38; Tul. Fung. 
Hyp. t. 7. f. 3 ; Corda, Icon. vi. t. 18. f. 129 ; Berk. Out. pp. 376. t. 
23. f. 2 ; Cooke's Brit. Fungi, t. 23. f. 1. Tuber cibarium. Sow. Eng. 
Fung. 309 i Hussey, Illus. t. 11; Sibth. Fl. Oxon. 398. T. BoJiemU 
cu7n, Corda, Ic. Fung, vi, T. Blotii, End, DesL T, nigrum^ AUioni, 
Fl. Fed. r. albidum, Fr. Sys. Myc— The common Truffle of the 
markets. 
3, Tuber vtacrosporurriy Vitt. Koundish, from the size of a hazel- 
nut to that of a walnut. Peridium clad with minute tubercles, covered 
with feiTuginous spots and fissures. Flesh compact. Veins scattered, 
numerous and interrupted, and mixed with obscure lines. Asci with 
long pedicels, 1-3-spored. Sporidia elliptic, very large, brownish ; 
epispore alveolo-reticulate, reticulations small. The odour of the fresh 
VOL. III. [may 1, iSfia.] 
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