UK Fungi

My dogs regularly dig up, and eat, ‘truffles’ in our local woods. Mixed beech, birch, Scots pine and Douglas fir Angus, in East Scotland. I don’t normally get to see the ‘truffles’ as the dogs eat them as soon as they’ve dug them up. Today I found this on one of the paths. It’s about thumb sized, with a slightly knobbly skin, very hard, with black spores when cut open. There’s no apparent odour, which is presumably why the dogs didn’t find it and eat it. The usual ‘truffles’ have black spores and a characteristic aroma that hangs around the dogs until a couple of days after they have eaten them.

Could it be an old Earthball, Scleroderma sp.?

Gary

Here’s a photo showing it before I cut it open.

Scleroderma areolatum ?

Hi,

Bit of a strange one this!

Difficult to tell the actual size from your pics, but when you say it was “about thumb sized”, I’m assuming you mean thumb-nail rather than full length of a thumb?

From your photos I’d say it definitely does look more like an Elaphomyces species than a Scleroderma – especially with the distinct granular (rather than scaly) surface.

However, being found intact on a path, (i.e. above ground), and having no truffle-like smell, would be more characteristic of Scleroderma than Elaphomyces.

From its appearance, I’d still be more inclined to think Elaphomyces though.

Unfortunately, Elaphomyces muricatus can look (certainly externally) very much like Elaphomyces granulatus, and so, as with the majority of mushrooms & fungi, I think to be anything like sure of what it actually is would need microscopy.

Regards,
Mike.