BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Deciduous with bushy habit, which in cultivation can also be raised to trees or 4/5 trunks by providing appropriate suckering with heights not exceeding mt. 15. Species of tree plant less long-lived than others(about 60/80 years) with fast growth and well branched from the base into several stems and replaced later by new suckers.
The bark first appears smooth with a grayish-brown color then sprinkled with lighter spots, the foliage thick and dense with flexible and elongated branches that appear ochre in color at a young age, the leaves rounded in shape and acuminate at the apex with a double-toothed margin, with the veins well evident, dark-green in color, glossy on the upper page and rough to the touch, dull on the lower page.
The well-known fruits (nuts) are collected in groups of 1 to 4 covered with an open involucre at the apex with irregular, serrated lobes,ripening in late summer. A heliophilous plant, adaptable to various types of soils, although it prefers loose, deep and cool soils, it disdains compact soils with waterlogging. It withstands very cold winters well and tolerates shade well. Its range includes Europe, West Asia and North Africa, while in Italy it is found almost everywhere from the plains to the hills to the mountain range around 1,500 meters above sea level.
In nature it contracts symbiosis with all species of truffle including Tuber Magnatum, Tuber Melanosporum, Tuber Aestivum, Tuber Borchii, also in truffle farming it mycorrhizes excellently with the species described above except Tuber Magnatum.