Choiromyces aboriginum

An underground fungus of the dry interior

The fruiting bodies of Choiromyces aboriginum develop below the soil in the dry areas of South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The fungus does not show itself above ground. Its presence is shown by the soil above it, which is pushed up and cracked. Those cracks were used to find the fungus, and the people who knew the country read them as a guide to where to dig.

The first non-Aboriginal specimen was collected in 1891 in the Great Victorian Desert. Later study placed that material in a species now usually called Elderia arenivaga, which is why the catalogue name and the current name differ. The catalogue name is kept here because it is the name the database holds for this item.

Food and water

The fruiting bodies were eaten raw or cooked. One account describes cooking them in hot sand and ashes for more than an hour before eating. The fungus was also used as a source of water, but the record does not explain how this worked, and this page does not supply the method.

Use as food is recorded across several Aboriginal groups in the dry regions where the truffle grows. A review cited in the case study describes these truffles as a cherished food resource for several Aboriginal groups.

Language and belief

In the Pitjantjatjara language the word for truffle is linked to the grey shrike thrush. The belief recorded in the case study is that the call of the bird after rain makes the truffle grow. The account is cultural knowledge recorded from speakers and is kept here as a belief, not as a fact about the fungus.

The name and its problems

The name Choiromyces aboriginum has been replaced in current usage by Elderia arenivaga. A separate database entry lists Mattirolomyces mulpu as the accepted name. The sources consulted did not confirm that second name, so this page does not adopt it.

Until the taxonomy is settled, the record should be read as a traditional food from the dry interior of Australia that is known by several names in the literature. The historical record uses these names in different ways, and identification of a specimen by name alone is not reliable.

Present-day position

A review article cited in the case study reports that these truffles, once a valued food resource for several Aboriginal groups, now have little or no value for many contemporary Aboriginal communities. It also reports that traditional knowledge of them is declining. The fungus is still present in the dry regions, but its use as food is largely lost from everyday life.

Safety and identification

The Aboriginal food record is a historical and cultural account. It is not an identification guide and not a safety verdict for anyone else. The sources do not give cooking times, portion sizes or storage limits for home use, and none is given here.

Underground fungi are hard to identify from appearance alone, and the cracked-soil clue points to a place rather than a species. Anyone who wants to eat a truffle from this group should confirm the identification with a local expert before eating it, and should treat any wild fungus with the same caution.