Amanita afrospinosa
Amanita afrospinosa is a white, warted Amanita of miombo woodland in southern and central Africa. A regional food-use record exists, but the Amanita genus includes deadly species, so no safe use is established here.
Mackintoshia persica
The African false truffle, Mackintoshia persica, is an ectomycorrhizal truffle-like fungus of miombo woodland in southern-central Africa. It is recorded as a regional edible, though its preparation is not documented.
A truffle-like fungus of the miombo
Mackintoshia persica is described by Pacioni and Sharp in Mycotaxon in 2000. It forms a fruiting body that is mostly underground and globose to subglobose, about 2 to 4 centimetres across, with a bumpy, dry, thin peridium that is bright yellow when young and olive to olive-brown with age. Its gleba is firm and spongy, pink when young and greyish salmon later. Rhizomorphs at the base link it to the roots of its hosts.
It is ectomycorrhizal and associated with Brachystegia, Julbernardia and Uapaca in miombo woodland of the Zambezian region. Its distribution is recorded in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The odour is weak and fruity and the taste is described as not very pronounced.
Sources for this section
Food use and what is not recorded
The catalogue records it as a regional edible false truffle, supplied wild, and the institutional record it draws on lists it as an edible species. The species page itself gives no common names, no account of how it is eaten and no safety statement.
Preparation, identity confirmation and current safety all need separate validation before the species is used as food. None of those is recorded here.
Sources for this section
Lookalikes
The species page separates it from Mycoamaranthus congolensis, which has echinulate, spiny spores where Mackintoshia persica has smooth, ellipsoid, thick-walled spores measuring about 11.3 to 13.8 by 8.1 to 10.4 micrometres. Spore characters are the practical check for a specialist, and a field resemblance to other truffle-like fungi is not enough.
Sources for this section
Places
Angola
Documented use · Country evidenceDistribution only; the food use is recorded regionally.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Documented use · Country evidenceDistribution only.
Mozambique
Documented use · Country evidenceDistribution only.
Zimbabwe
Documented use · Country evidenceDistribution only.
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Sources
EFTA (European Foundation for Tropical Mycology)Identity · Ecology
Mackintoshia persica species pagePacioni and Sharp, Mycotaxon 75: 226 (2000); distribution in Angola, DR Congo, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe; ectomycorrhizal with Brachystegia, Julbernardia, Uapaca in miombo; fruiting body and spore measurements; no common names, preparation or safety statements
Cited in: A truffle-like fungus of the miombo; Food use and what is not recorded; Lookalikes