Tuber

In botany, a tuber is an underground storage organ typically formed from a swollen stem. The potato is the best-known example. Tubers store starch and other nutrients to support new growth and usually bear buds, or eyes, from which shoots can emerge. True tubers develop from stems, often the tips of stolons, and are different from tuberous roots such as sweet potato, which are modified roots rather than stems.

In mycology, Tuber is a genus of fungi in the family Tuberaceae that produce underground edible fruiting bodies known as truffles. Species such as Tuber melanosporum (black truffle) and Tuber magnatum (white truffle) are highly prized in cooking. These fungi form ectomycorrhizal associations with trees and rely on animal dispersers to locate their subterranean fruiting bodies. Truffles are typically found by trained animals and require specific soil and host-tree conditions to fruit.