lard_pwn

My practical answer to this question is to state my experience with my dog, Appa. If I introduce him to the truffle briefly, and we go through a habitat with the truffle present, he will find it. He won't find matsutake mushrooms or my cell phone in the same way - he's not a trained scent dog. But most of the members of Tuber have similar aroma profiles, at least chemically, and the dogs are detecting these common compounds.

I trained Appa on Oregon Blacks, and then a year later on Winter Whites, and he immediately began finding Oregon Browns and he needed very little encouragement to find the Spring Whites.

Altogether, he has found about 12 species of truffles. In fact, several truffles he finds are simply an annoyance, but it's difficult to discourage him, lest he lose interest in the overall game.

I am saddened by your omission of Kalapuya brunnea, though I think I understand that you have not found them yet?

The Browns are some kick-ass truffles.

I have also had chefs serve up other Leucangium species, but they certainly aren't on anyone's maps or radar yet.