Puffball Fungus

Description:

Slightly past its prime fruiting and starting to shed it's spines. Roughly pear-shaped with a narrow, stem-like base. 2-4 cm broad, 2-5 cm tall. The outer layer has a dense coating of long (3-6 mm), slender white spines. Numerous bundles are formed by the joining of spines at the tips. As the mushroom matures, the spines are shed, leaving a smooth, shiny, brown to dark purple-brown surface. A small opening forms at the top for the discharge of spores. The stem makes up about one half of the fruiting body, and is chambered and white inside when young, becoming brown to purple-brown in age. The flesh is white and firm when young, becoming yellow and then dark purple-brown and powdery as the mushroom matures.