Tuber aestivum vitt Summer Black Truffle – Scorzone

*Tuber aestivum* Vittad. (1831), commonly known as the summer truffle (*Scorzone* or summer black truffle). Its scientific name indicates its primary ripening season (summer: from May to September). The common name "*scorzone*" refers to the nature of the peridium, which covers the truffle like a very thick "rind" or "crust" (*scorza*).

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Ascomi	Ascomata solitary or aggregated, globose (ranging from 2–4 to 6–7 cm, and up to 10–15 cm), pyramidal in shape with a pentagonal or hexagonal base and a depressed apex.
Peridium	Warty peridium—with large, prominent, pyramidal warts—black in color.
Gleba	Gleba varying in color from yellowish to bronze, and traversed by numerous, branching, whitish sterile veins that disappear upon cooking.
Aschi-Ascospore	Asci globose or subglobose, sessile or short-stalked. Ascospores, numbering 1 to 6 per ascus, are elliptic-ellipsoid, irregularly alveolate, and dark. It matures from late spring through winter. It emits a faint mushroom aroma. The taste is reminiscent of porcini mushrooms, hazelnuts, and almonds.
Symbiotic plants	It grows in symbiosis with downy oak, holm oak, pedunculate oak, sessile oak, Turkey oak, hazel, hop-hornbeam, European hornbeam, large-leaved lime, beech, *Betula verrucosa* Ehrh. (birch), *Salix* spp. (willow), *Populus* spp. (poplar), black pine, stone pine, *Pinus sylvestris* L. (Scots pine), *P. halepensis* Mill. (Aleppo pine), *P. brutia* Ten. (Calabrian pine), Norway spruce, and *Cedrus* spp.
Harvest period	In the Puglia region, the harvesting of this species is permitted from May 1st to November 30th.