Terfezia (Berber: Tirfas) is a genus of truffle-like fungi within the Pezizaceae family. Terfezia species are commonly known as desert truffles. Some authorities consider this the type genus of the family Terfeziaceae,[1] although phylogenetic analysis suggests that it nests within the Pezizaceae.[2] The Dictionary of the Fungi (10th edition, 2008) suggests that the genus contains 12 species.[2] A recent (2011) publication used molecular analysis to show that the American Terfezia species had been incorrectly classified, and moved Terfezia spinosa and Terfezia longii to Mattirolomyces and Stouffera, respectively; as a result, no Terfezia species are known to exist in North America.[3]
Israeli agricultural scientists have been attempting to domesticate T. boudieri into a commercial crop.[4]
^ abKirk PM, Cannon PF, Minter DW, Stalpers JA (2008). Dictionary of the Fungi (10th ed.). Wallingford, UK: CAB International. p. 682. ISBN978-0-85199-826-8.
^Kovács GM, Trappe JM, Alsheikh AM, Hansen K, Healy RA, Vági P (2011). "Terfezia disappears from the American truffle mycota as two new genera and Mattirolomyces species emerge". Mycologia. 103 (4): 831–40. doi:10.3852/10-273. PMID21262987. S2CID29522937.
^Kovács GM, Balázs TK, Calonge FD, Martín MP (2011). "The diversity of Terfezia desert truffles: new species and a highly variable species complex with intrasporocarpic nrDNA ITS heterogeneity". Mycologia. 103 (4): 841–53. doi:10.3852/10-312. PMID21289106. S2CID22648182.
