Tuber magnatum Pico Prized white truffle

Tuber magnatum Pico, 1788 [= *Tuber griseum* Persoon 1801] is commonly known as the prized white truffle, Piedmont white truffle, Alba white truffle, Acqualagna white truffle, or *trifola bianca*. Its common names reflect the high commercial value of its fruiting bodies and some of the most renowned areas of natural production. The specific epithet in the Latin binomial is the genitive plural of *magnates* (meaning magnates or wealthy lords), indicating that the fruiting bodies of this highly prized truffle were consumed primarily at the tables of the wealthiest families.

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Ascomi	It varies greatly in shape (round, tuber-like, sub-globose, lobed, with cavities and protrusions), a characteristic determined by the structure of the soil in which it develops. Its size also varies, ranging from a diameter of 1–10 cm up to 15–20 cm. It is the largest and most sought-after truffle.
Peridio	Peridium with a smooth surface (sometimes featuring small warts and often marked by cracks), light yellow or ochre in color, with greenish-grey, yellow-green, or purplish blotches depending on the stage of maturity.
Gleba	Flesh firm and granular, varying in color from brown to a paler hazel, sometimes with bright red tinges. Numerous fine, pale sterile veins that disappear upon cooking.
Aschi	Spores are elliptical or rounded, broadly reticulate or alveolate, and grouped in sets of up to four within globose asci. The asci are ovoid or subglobose with a short stalk, containing 1–4 ovoid or subspherical spores; these are yellowish or ochre-brown and covered by an epispore that is broadly alveolate, featuring ridges within the individual areolae. It emits a strong, pleasant, and hard-to-define aroma, reminiscent at times of garlic and at others of Grana cheese.
Symbiotic plants	It grows in symbiosis with *Quercus robur* L. (pedunculate oak), *Q. petraea* (Mattushka) Liebl. (sessile oak), *Q. pubescens* Willd. (downy oak), *Q. ilex* L. (holm oak), *Corylus avellana* L. (hazel), *Ostrya carpinifolia* Scop. (hop-hornbeam), *Tilia platyphyllos* Scop. (large-leaved lime), *Tilia cordata* Miller (small-leaved lime), *Populus alba* L. (white poplar), *Pinus nigra* Arnold (black pine), *Populus tremula* L. (aspen), *Populus pyramidalis* Roz. (columnar poplar), *Salix alba* L. (white willow), *S. viminalis* L. (basket willow), *S. caprea* L. (goat willow), *S. apennina* Skvortsov (Apennine willow), *Alnus cordata* (Loisel.) Desf. (Italian alder), *Carpinus betulus* L. (European hornbeam), and *Pinus pinea* L. (stone pine). The optimal ripening period ranges from late summer to early winter (September to December). The ascocarps produced early in the season (August–September)—commonly known as *fioroni*—are small and lack strong aroma; they form in the upper layers of the soil and are invariably infested with larvae. They have little commercial value, and Law 752/85 prohibits their harvesting.
Harvest period	In the Puglia region, the harvesting of this species is permitted from October 1st to December 31st.