A native edible truffle of the Pacific Northwest. It is associated with Douglas-fir, especially young to early-mature stands planted on former pasture, and is harvested commercially with trained dogs or rakes (OSU Extension EM 9369; Wikipedia). Described by Harkness in 1899, it resembles the winter Oregon white truffle (T. oregonense) but fruits later in the season.
Edible and commercially harvested; used like European truffles, shaved raw over warm, fatty foods (OSU Extension; Wikipedia, citing Arora 1986 and Volk 1997). Only mature truffles develop aroma, so immature ones have little culinary value. As with any wild fungus, identify it with certainty before eating.
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Habitat
Underground, ectomycorrhizal with Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). It does best in young to early-mature Douglas-fir stands planted on former pasture, from sea level to about 610 m (2,000 ft), west of the Cascades and in the coast ranges (OSU Extension).
Distribution
Pacific Northwest of North America, from northern California to southern British Columbia (OSU Extension; Wikipedia).
Characteristics
Fruit body: underground, up to about 5 cm, roughly marble- to golf-ball-sized, with irregular lobes and humps on larger specimens (the epithet means 'humped'). Peridium: thin, pale olive to brownish yellow with brown mottling and furrows. Gleba: white when immature, becoming brown with white marbling (OSU Extension; Wikipedia, citing Arora 1986). The gibbosum clade is marked by peculiar wall thickenings on hyphal tips (Castellano et al. 2010, via Wikipedia). Aroma: often undetectable at harvest. When it develops, it is less intense than that of T. oregonense (OSU Extension).
