Literature Review of Tuber Species in China

The species of Tuber reported from China are summarised in this paper.Thirty-five names are included based on a thorough literature research.Among the names reported from China,twenty-one species are supported by specimens cited in the relevant literature,i.e.T.aestivum,T.asa,T.californicum,T.foetidum,T.gigantosporum,T.huidongense,T.indicum,T.liaotongense,(T.liui),T.lyonii,T.maculatum,T.melanosporum, T.oligospermum,T.pseudoexcavatum,T.pseudohimalayense,T.puberulum,T.rufum,T.sinense,T.taiyuanense,T.xizangense and T.zhongdianense.Seven names require further confirmation,i.e.T.excavatum,T.himalayense and T.shearii for a lack of specimen citation and locality;T.borchii,T.dryophilum and T.rapaeodorum for incongruence between the Chinese records and the description in the Western literature;and T.brumale as a tentative identification.Tuber nitidum and T.texense have proved to be synonyms of T.rufum and T.lyonii,respectively,and five names proposed in the Chinese literature,i.e.T.formosanum,T.huangshawanense,T.mindense,T.tianshanense and T.turbinatosporum,are invalid and should not be used.The present research status and distribution of the Tuber species in China are briefly discussed and the Chinese names are also revised.