''Elaphomyces'' (‘deer truffles’) is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of hypogeous
fungi
A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...
in the family
Elaphomycetaceae
The Elaphomycetaceae are a family of fungi in the order Eurotiales. According to a 2008 estimate, the family contains two genera
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification ...
. The widespread genus contains 25
truffle
A truffle is the Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, one of the species of the genus ''Tuber (fungus), Tuber''. More than one hundred other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including ''Geopora'', ''P ...
-like species.
''Elaphomyces'' is one of the most important ectomycorrhizal fungal genera in temperate and subarctic forest ecosystems. ''E. asperulus'', ''E. granulatus'', and ''E. muricatus'' were found to accumulate arsenic (12–660 mg/kg in dry mass); the composition of organoarsenicals is very unusual, with methylarsonic acid and trimethylarsine oxide as major As compounds.
Species
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Elaphomyces aculeatus''
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Elaphomyces anthracinus''
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Elaphomyces citrinus''
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Elaphomyces compleximurus''
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Elaphomyces cyanosporus''
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Elaphomyces digitatus''
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Elaphomyces granulatus'', known as deer balls, hart's balls, hart's truffles, or lycoperdon nuts (''cf.
Lycoperdon
''Lycoperdon'' is a genus of puffball mushrooms. The genus has a widespread distribution and contains about 50 species. In general, it contains the smaller species such as the pear-shaped puffball and the gem-studded puffball. It was formerly cl ...
'')
['']Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...
'', ''s.v.'' deer, hart, lycoperdon
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Elaphomyces japonicus''
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Elaphomyces leucosporus''
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Elaphomyces leveillei''
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Elaphomyces morettii''
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Elaphomyces muricatus''
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Elaphomyces officinalis''
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Elaphomyces viridiseptum''
References
Eurotiomycetes genera
Elaphomycetaceae
Taxa described in 1820
Taxa named by Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck
{{Eurotiomycetes-stub