Research Spotlight: Mycorrhizae and the Arboretum Truffle
When:
Saturday, Aug 23, 2025 4:00p -
6:00p
Saturday, Aug 23, 2025 4:00p -
6:00p
Where:
Arnold Arboretum
125 Arborway
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Admission:
FREE
Hosted by:
Categories:
History, Lectures & Conferences, Nature
Event website:
https://arboretum.harvard.edu/events/research-spotlight-mycorrhizae-and-the-arboretum-truffle/
In 2016, the Donald Pfister lab at Harvard University discovered a new species of mycorrhizal truffle at the Arboretum, related to the famed culinary truffle but genetically distinct. Nine years later the lab is still making new discoveries in the field of mycorrhizae: the fungi that form symbiotic associations with plant roots and provide the plants with extra water and nutrients from the soil in exchange for a steady supply of sugars.
Join Professor Don Pfister for a research spotlight on mycorrhizae and the Arboretum truffle, and learn about the biology of mycorrizae, how the Arboretum truffle and other mycorrhizae disperse their spores, and how to go about finding mycorrhizae in the landscape. The group will also take some soil cores and look for evidence of mycorrhizae in the soil. Maybe we’ll find a truffle!
This program begins at the Hunnewell Building.
Accessibility: This program involves climbing moderate slopes and walking over mulch paths, gravel paths, and mowed grass.
Audience: This program is geared towards adults.
