248 
Mas see . — The S 'true hire and 
used a short-handled, strong, long-toothed iron rake when hunting for 
members of the Tuberaceae. 
Tuber aestivum is our best native truffle from an edible standpoint. It 
occurs in fair abundance under beeches on Salisbury Plain. The neigh- 
bourhood of Patching, near Arundel, Sussex, is or was also noted for its 
truffles. 
It is known that the mycelium of certain species of Elaphomyces 
forms mycorhiza on the roots of conifers. It is also known that success in 
the cultivation of edible truffles in France depends to a marked extent 
on keeping the roots of the oaks, under which they grow, near to the surface 
of the soil. This implies some connexion between the truffles and the oak 
roots, and further suggests that the truffles benefit to some extent by the 
formation of mycorhiza. 
TUBERACEAE. 
Tuberoideae, Vitt., Mon. Tub., p. 12 (1831) 
Ascophore subglobose, irregularly nodulose or sulcate, indehiscent, wall continu- 
ous or variously perforated, fleshy or coriaceous, rarely becoming hard and woody. 
Asci varying from cylindrical to globose, 1-8-spored. Spores continuous. Subter- 
ranean or rarely more or less exposed. 
Key to the Families. 
Gleba breaking up into a loose mass of spores at maturity — Elaphomyceteae. 
Gleba not breaking up into a powdery mass, but having persistent dissepiments 
and becoming lacunose orcavernose — Tubereae. 
Fam. 1. ELAPHOMYCETEAE. 
Elaphomycei, Tub,, Fung. Hypog., p. 100(1851). 
Ascophore subglobose, wall not perforated, firm, becoming hard when dry. Gleba 
without permanent dissepiments, containing numerous silky filaments. Asci 1-8- 
spored. Spores globose, coloured, forming a powdery mass at maturity. Subterranean. 
Elaphomyces, Nees, PL Myc., p. 58 (1820); Sacc., Syll., viii, p. 803 (1889) ; Cooke, 
Brit. Fung., p. 749 (1871). 
Ascophore subglobose, wall hard, Asci subglobose. Spores coloured, filling the 
ascophore with a dusty mass at maturity. 
Elaphomyces authracinus, Vitt., Mon. Tub., p. 66, tab. 3, fig. 8 (1831) ; 
Sacc., Syll., viii, p. 866 (1889); Cooke, Brit. Fung., p. 749 (1871). 
Ascophore subglobose, blackish-brown, rigid, very minutely corrugated, flesh 
whitish, mycelium usually copious, brownish, 2-4 cm. diam. Asci subglobose. Spores 
globose, blackish-brown, opaque, very minutely granulated or sometimes smooth, 
16-20 fj. diam., mixed with colourless cobweb-like threads. 
Hab. In clay soil under trees. 
Distr. Britain ; France ; Italy. 
