Tuber melanosporum vitt. Prized black truffle

Tuber melanosporum Vittad. (1831) is commonly known as the prized black truffle (or Norcia black truffle, Spoleto black truffle, or Périgord truffle), named after the color of its ascocarps and the main regions where it grows naturally—Umbria and France. Its scientific name reflects the black color of its spores.

Acquista

Ascomi	Tuberiform ascomas (similar to the potato tuber), sub-globose or lobed, with a diameter varying from 1 to 7-10 cm.
Peridium	Peridium black or rusty-black (resembling a dog's muzzle when wet), with minute, polygonal warts featuring blunt or depressed apices.
Gleba	Gleba blackish-violet at maturity. Fine, branched, white sterile veins; upon exposure to air, they slowly turn reddish-brown and become black when cooked.
Aschi	The spores are oval, dark brown, and opaque at maturity; they are spiny (not reticulate) and grouped in sets of 4–6—sometimes only 2 or 3—within globose asci. The ascoma emits a delicate and very pleasant aroma.
Symbiotic plants	It grows in symbiosis with downy oak, pedunculate oak, sessile oak, holm oak, *Quercus coccifera* L. (kermes oak), *Q. faginea* Lam. (Portuguese oak), *Q. cerris* L. (Turkey oak), *Q. trojana* Webb (Macedonian oak), *Q. suber* L. (cork oak), hazel, *Corylus colurna* L. (Turkish hazel), willows, poplars, lindens, pines, alder, *Castanea sativa* Miller (sweet chestnut), *Cistus* spp. (rock-rose), *Fagus sylvatica* L. (European beech), *Eucalyptus* sp. (eucalyptus), *Abies alba* Miller (silver fir), *Cedrus atlantica* (Endl.) Carrière (Atlas cedar), and *C. deodara* (D.Don) G.Don (Himalayan cedar). It matures in autumn and winter.
Harvest period	In the Puglia region, the harvesting of this species is permitted from November 15 to March 15.