''Elaphomyces'' (‘deer truffles’) is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of hypogeous
fungi
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...
in the family
Elaphomycetaceae. The widespread genus contains 25
truffle
A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many species of the genus ''Tuber''. In addition to ''Tuber'', many other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including '' Geopora'', '' Pe ...
-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
*''
Elaphomyces aculeatus''
*''
Elaphomyces anthracinus''
*''
Elaphomyces citrinus''
*''
Elaphomyces compleximurus''
*''
Elaphomyces cyanosporus''
*''
Elaphomyces digitatus''
*''
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 cla ...
'')
['']Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
'', ''s.v.'' deer, hart, lycoperdon
*''
Elaphomyces japonicus''
*''
Elaphomyces leucosporus''
*''
Elaphomyces leveillei''
*''
Elaphomyces morettii''
*''
Elaphomyces muricatus''
*''
Elaphomyces officinalis''
*''
Elaphomyces viridiseptum''
References
Eurotiomycetes genera
Eurotiales
{{Eurotiomycetes-stub