Matthew Smith, associate professor in the University of Florida: "At least one of the species was pretty stinky and not in a good way, so you wouldn't necessarily want to eat it.” Smith and his team were studying pecan truffles when they found the new species.
Sciencedaily.com describes how pecan truffles, valued for their pleasant aroma and taste, sell for $160 to $300 per pound. Pecan orchards with a high density of pecan truffles might increase farmers' per acre profit by up to 20 percent.
Arthur Grupe, a doctoral student in UF's department of plant pathology: "So far, we have found these truffles mostly in Florida and Georgia. Interestingly, a collaborator in Brazil found one of these species in a pecan orchard. We suspect that it hitched a ride on pecan seedlings shipped from the US. I think it is a great example of hidden biodiversity."
