''Pachyphlodes'', formerly ''Pachyphloeus'', 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 Ascomycete

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 ...

(

Pezizales The Pezizales are an order of the subphylum Pezizomycotina within the phylum Ascomycota. The order contains 16 families, 199 genera, and 1683 species. It contains a number of species of economic importance, such as morels, the black and whit ...

Pezizaceae The Pezizaceae (commonly referred to as cup fungi) are a family of fungi in the Ascomycota which produce mushrooms that tend to grow in the shape of a "cup". Spores are formed on the inner surface of the fruit body ( ascoma). The cup shape typi ...

) that forms

hypogeous Hypogeal, hypogean, hypogeic and hypogeous (; ) are biological terms describing an organism's activity below the soil surface. In botany, a seed is described as showing hypogeal germination when the cotyledons of the germinating seed remain no ...

fruit bodies The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...

, aka

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 ...

s. '' Pachyphloeus citrinus'' is known as the "berry truffle" and '' Pachyphloeus austro-oregonensis'' is known as the "southern Oregon berry truffle". The genus forms

ectomycorrhiza An ectomycorrhiza (from Greek ἐκτός ', "outside", μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; ectomycorrhizas or ectomycorrhizae, abbreviated EcM) is a form of symbiotic relationship that occurs between a fungal symbiont, or mycobio ...

l mutualisms with tree roots, usually

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

s. Truffles require animals to dig them up and eat them, in order to disperse their

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual reproduction, sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for biological dispersal, dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores fo ...

Species

*'' Pachyphloeus austro-oregonensis'' *'' Pachyphloeus carneus'' *'' Pachyphloeus citrinus'' *'' Pachyphloeus conglomeratus'' *'' Pachyphloeus depressus'' – China *'' Pachyphloeus lateritius'' *'' Pachyphloeus ligericus'' *'' Pachyphloeus macrosporus'' *'' Pachyphloeus marroninus'' *'' Pachyphloeus melanoxanthus'' *'' Pachyphloeus prieguensis'' *'' Pachyphloeus saccardoi'' *'' Pachyphloeus thysellii'' *'' Pachyphloeus virescens''

References

Pezizaceae Pezizales genera {{Pezizomycetes-stub