Geopora cooperi Harkness
Bull. Calif. Acad. Sci. 1:168. 1885.

Common Name: Fuzzy Truffle

• Ascocarp

  Fruiting body 1.0-6.0 (10) cm broad, hypogeous, occasionally partially emergent, globose to somewhat pulvinate; surface convoluted to cerebreform, tan-brown to dark-brown, often finely warted, covered with coarse, mostly repent hairs (use hand-lens), the latter sometimes proliferating into the substrate; internal tissue labyrinthoid from infolding of the external surface, hymenial tissue whitish and pale-brown; odor faintly aromatic; taste mild.

• Spores

  Spores 19-25 x 13.5-16 µm, eight per ascus, uniserate, broadly elliptical, moderately thick-walled, smooth with granular contents and a central oil droplet.

• Habitat

  In groups, mostly under conifers, hypogeous; fruiting from mid winter to early spring in coastal forests, late summer and fall in the Sierra Nevada (occasional in spring); associated with Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata) and other conifers in the San Francisco Bay area, fairly common, but seldom collected.

• Edibility

  Edible.

• Comments

  Despite the common name, Fuzzy Truffle, Geopora cooperi is not closely related to the true truffles, i.e. Tuber species. A major difference is the spores which are smooth and forcibly discharged, while those of Tuber species are ornamented and not ejected from the ascus. Of the many truffle-like fungi in California, Geopora cooperi most closely resembles Hydnotrya cerebreformis which also has a pubescent exterior. The surface hairs of Hydnotrya cerebreformis, however, are very short and fine, not coarse. This species also differs in having a strong garlic odor and globose spores with rounded warts. Geopora cooperi f. gilkeyi differs from f. cooperi in having ovate to subglobose spores.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Fred Stevens: Geopora cooperi (CP)
  • Fred Stevens: Geopora cooperi (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Geopora cooperi (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Geopora cooperi (CP)
  • Mushroom Observer: Geopora cooperi (CP)
  • Fungal Jungal: Geopora cooperi (D & CP)
  • Arora (1986): p. 846 (D), p. 847 (P)
  • Lincoff: p. 350 (D), pl. 643 (CP)
  • Tylutki (1979): p. 95 (D & P)
  
  

  (D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)