E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Summary:
Features include 1) a nearly spherical convoluted fruitbody up to 2.5cm across that is dull reddish brown to purple-brown or salmon, 2) a white or yellowish spore mass penetrated by long, maze-like, branching, narrow canals, 3) typically a strong garlic odor when mature, 4) habitat often inside rotten wood, and 5) microscopic characters including round spiny spores and inamyloid 8-spored asci.

Hydnotrya cerebriformis was reported from BC to the North American Truffling Society. It was reported for WA by Jumpponen(1). It was listed for ID by Hawker (in Fogel(7)). The type is from CA (Gilkey). It was recorded from CO by Fogel(7). A collection from OR was used by O''Donnell(2). It is not listed in Trappe(13).

Outer Surface:
dull reddish-brown to purple-brown, (Arora), up to 2.5cm across, nearly spherical, "coarsely lobed, with several deep, close folds"; salmon color; minutely villose, (Gilkey), pinkish to reddish brown; covered with fine short hairs, (Trudell)

Interior:
complex convoluted (Arora), "white or yellowish, penetrated by long labyrinthine, branching, narrow canals, the walls lined by hymenium; canals hollow but often so narrow that the tips of opposite paraphyses come in contact", (Gilkey)

Odor:
typically strong garlic odor when mature (Arora), somewhat garlic-like, but pungent, (Trudell)

Microscopic:
spores round, minutely spiny; asci inamyloid, (Arora), spores 25-32 x 25-32 microns, nearly round, minutely papillose, brown, (Gilkey), asci 8-spored, 200 x 28-32 microns, cylindric; canals often so narrow that tips of opposite paraphyses come into contact, (Gilkey)