A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Scleroderma sp.
Earthballs are superficially similar to, and considered look-alikes of the edible puffball, but whereas the Puffball has a single opening on top through which the spores are dispersed, the earthball just breaks up to release the spores.The peridium (outer wall), which may be smooth or warted, is very thick and tough. At maturity it splits irregularly over the upper part of the basidiocarp to reveal the dark gleba underneath. Spores are produced in small brownish-purple, pea-like bodies called peridioles that initially are outlined by wall-like aggregations of white hyphae. These peridioles disintegrate as the fruit body matures, and by the time the peridium splits open, only a powdery mass of dark spores is visible. Spores are roughly spherical in shape with warts or reticulate ornamentation, thick-walled, and brown. Species in Scleroderma are ectomycorrhizal with shrubs and trees, and have a worldwide distribution.
Oak forest
Camera Model: NIKON D300. Exposure Time: 1/60 sec.; f/32; ISO Speed Rating: 800. Exposure Bias: -1 EV. Focal Length: 90.0 mm. Flash fired.
Spotted on Dec 31, 2014
Submitted on Apr 8, 2015
No Comments