Tuber magnatum →
White truffle
- Outer skin (peridium)
- smooth, pale ochre to cream
- Interior (gleba)
- pale brown with fine white veins
Loading the view…
An illustration, not a photograph or an identification aid. The shapes are generic and not to scale; skin and gleba follow the register’s species descriptions and reference photographs, and the colours are approximate. Reliable identification requires expert examination.
Tuber aestivum →
Summer truffle
- Outer skin (peridium)
- black, coarse pyramidal warts
- Interior (gleba)
- pale hazel with abundant white veins
Tuber melanosporum →
Black winter truffle
- Outer skin (peridium)
- black, fine polygonal warts
- Interior (gleba)
- black-purple with fine white veins
What types of truffles are there, and how do they differ? Compare eight species and forms of the genus Tuber from Istria and Europe by season, appearance, aroma and host plants.
What does a cross-section reveal?
Tuber magnatum
- 01 · Outer skin (peridium)
- smooth, pale ochre to cream
- 02 · Interior (gleba)
- pale brown with fine white veins
Tuber borchii · Tuber magnatum →
Evidence basis: TuberID — The Tuber Identification Database · Guida breve alla raccolta e commercializzazione del tartufo in Campania
Tuber aestivum
- 01 · Outer skin (peridium)
- black, coarse pyramidal warts
- 02 · Interior (gleba)
- pale hazel with abundant white veins
Tuber aestivum · Tuber mesentericum →
Tuber aestivum · Tuber aestivum var. uncinatum →
Evidence basis: TuberID — The Tuber Identification Database · Guida breve alla raccolta e commercializzazione del tartufo in Campania
Tuber aestivum var. uncinatum
- 01 · Outer skin (peridium)
- black, coarse pyramidal warts
- 02 · Interior (gleba)
- dark brown with dense white veins
Tuber aestivum · Tuber aestivum var. uncinatum →
Evidence basis: TuberID — The Tuber Identification Database · Guida breve alla raccolta e commercializzazione del tartufo in Campania
Tuber melanosporum
- 01 · Outer skin (peridium)
- black, fine polygonal warts
- 02 · Interior (gleba)
- black-purple with fine white veins
Tuber brumale · Tuber melanosporum →
Evidence basis: TuberID — The Tuber Identification Database · Guida breve alla raccolta e commercializzazione del tartufo in Campania
Tuber borchii
- 01 · Outer skin (peridium)
- smooth, pale ochre to rusty brown
- 02 · Interior (gleba)
- dark reddish brown at maturity with broad creamy white veins
Tuber borchii · Tuber magnatum →
Evidence basis: TuberID — The Tuber Identification Database · Guida breve alla raccolta e commercializzazione del tartufo in Campania
Tuber brumale
- 01 · Outer skin (peridium)
- black, coarse irregular warts
- 02 · Interior (gleba)
- grey-black with sparse coarse veins
Tuber brumale · Tuber melanosporum →
Evidence basis: TuberID — The Tuber Identification Database · Guida breve alla raccolta e commercializzazione del tartufo in Campania
Tuber macrosporum
- 01 · Outer skin (peridium)
- brown-black with small flattened warts
- 02 · Interior (gleba)
- brown-violet with broad white veins
Evidence basis: TuberID — The Tuber Identification Database · Guida breve alla raccolta e commercializzazione del tartufo in Campania
Tuber mesentericum
- 01 · Outer skin (peridium)
- black, coarse irregular warts
- 02 · Interior (gleba)
- dark brown with dense white veins
Tuber aestivum · Tuber mesentericum →
Evidence basis: TuberID — The Tuber Identification Database · Guida breve alla raccolta e commercializzazione del tartufo in Campania
Tuber is a genus of ascomycete fungi that live in symbiosis with plant roots and produce underground fruiting bodies. Truffle is not the name of a single species: white, summer and Burgundy truffles differ in their features and seasons. What a truffle is and how we know.
Preview a different month
02Season
- Tuber aestivum var. uncinatumBurgundy trufflePeak season
- Tuber macrosporumSmooth black trufflePeak season
- Tuber magnatumWhite trufflePeak season
- Tuber mesentericumBagnoli trufflePeak season
- Tuber brumaleMusky truffleEarly season
- Tuber borchiiBianchetto truffleComing soon
- Tuber melanosporumBlack winter truffleComing soon
- Tuber aestivumSummer truffleOut of season
03Species by host tree
- OakQuercusTuber magnatumTuber aestivumTuber aestivum var. uncinatumTuber melanosporumTuber borchiiTuber brumaleTuber macrosporumTuber mesentericum
- HazelCorylusTuber magnatumTuber aestivumTuber aestivum var. uncinatumTuber melanosporumTuber brumaleTuber macrosporum
- HornbeamCarpinusTuber magnatumTuber aestivumTuber aestivum var. uncinatumTuber mesentericum
- LimeTiliaTuber magnatumTuber aestivumTuber melanosporumTuber brumale
- BeechFagusTuber aestivumTuber aestivum var. uncinatumTuber mesentericum
- PoplarPopulusTuber magnatumTuber borchiiTuber macrosporum
- PinePinusTuber aestivumTuber borchii
- WillowSalixTuber magnatumTuber macrosporum
- Rock roseCistusTuber borchii
- Hop hornbeamOstryaTuber magnatum
04Comparisons
“Black truffle” is not one species. In the register, these species have black or brown-black skin, each with its own season:
- Tuber aestivumSummer truffle · May — September
- Tuber aestivum var. uncinatumBurgundy truffle · September — January
- Tuber melanosporumBlack winter truffle · December — March
- Tuber brumaleMusky truffle · November — March
- Tuber macrosporumSmooth black truffle · September — December
- Tuber mesentericumBagnoli truffle · September — January
Pairs that are easily mistaken for each other, side by side: