Desert Truffles

[Bruno Pretto & Paula Vopni]

>My next door neighbour was in Syria on an archeologigal expedition. At the 
>market he was able to locate some desert truffles for me. He returned with one 
>specimen weighing approx. 500 grams, for which he paid $ 10.00. It has a 
>smooth outside skin unlike the french truffles. I plan to take some 
>photographs of it before consuming it and I will post them on the net.
>Can anyone tell me the latin name for this truffle.

July 16
Have finally photographed and tasted this intriguing fungus. The exterior is 
dark brown, smooth textured. The interior is beige with white interlacing 
lines rather like the Italian white truffle.  The  flavour is very mild but 
rather pleasant, texture is somewhat crunchy. There is not much aroma to 
compared to the French black truffle.

But here is a good question for all you mycologists. Is this a mychorrizal 
species, and if it is what is it forming a symbiotic relationship with if 
there are no trees in the desert. 
  Bruno Pretto, Fun Guy Farm (Toronto,Canada).
      Home page http://www.io.org/~bpretto
      NAMA Trustee for Toronto Mycological Society.
      Secretary Oak Forest Mushroom Association (outdoor shiitake growers).