warted puffball

Description:

Probably the most common woodland puffball in North America, Lycoperdon perlatum is widely distributed and easily recognized, despite the fact that it is very variable in appearance. It grows on the ground, which helps separate it from Morganella pyriformis, which grows on wood. It has a fairly substantial stem-like portion, which makes the shape of the mushroom rather like an inverted pear. And, when young and fresh, it is covered with tiny spines. The spines often rub off by maturity, but they usually leave little scars where they were attached. Description: Ecology: Saprobic; growing alone, scattered, gregariously, or in clusters; in woods under hardwoods or conifers, but also common along roadsides and in urban settings; rarely on very decayed wood; summer and fall in temperate regions, almost year-round in California and along the Gulf Coast; very widely distributed and common. Fruiting Body: Shaped like an inverted pear, with a fairly prominent stem-like area and a roundish to flattened top; 2.5-7 cm wide; 3-7.5 cm high; dry; covered with whitish spines when young and fresh, but the spines often falling away by maturity and leaving scars on the surface; by maturity developing a central perforation through which spores are liberated by rain drops and wind currents; white, becoming discolored and eventually sometimes brownish; with a white, fleshy interior at first; later with yellowish to olive granular flesh and eventually filled with brownish spore dust. ( http://www.mushroomexpert.com/lycoperdon... )

Habitat:

location: North America, Europe edibility: Edible fungus colour: White to cream, Grey to beige normal size: 5-15cm cap type: Other stem type: Lateral, rudimentary or absent spore colour: Light to dark brown habitat: Grows in woods, Grows on the ground Lycoperdon perlatum Pers. syn. L. gemmatum Batsch Flaschenstäubling Vesse-de-loup à pierreries, Common Puffball. Fruit body 2.5–6cm across, 2–9cm high, subglobose with a distinct stem, white at first becoming yellowish brown, outer layer of short pyramidal warts especially dense on the head, rubbing off to leave an indistinct mesh-like pattern on the inner wall which opens by a pore. Gleba olive-brown at maturity; sterile base spongy, occupying the stem. Spores olivaceous-brown, globose, minutely warted, 3.5–4.5m. Habitat woodland. Season summer to late autumn. Common. Edible and good -when the flesh is pure white. Distribution, America and Europe ( http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/D... )

Notes:

Edibility= -----Lycoperdon perlatum is considered to be a good edible mushroom when young, when the gleba is still homogeneous and white. They have been referred to as "poor man's sweetbread" due to their texture and flavor. The fruit bodies can be eaten by slicing and frying in batter or egg and breadcrumbs, or used in soups. The puffballs become inedible as they mature: the gleba becomes yellow-tinged then finally develops into a mass of powdery olive-green spores. -----The immature 'buttons' or 'eggs' of deadly Amanita species can be confused with puffballs. For this reason puffballs being collected for the table should always be sliced vertically and inspected for the internal developing structures of a mushroom. Amanitas will generally not have 'jewels' or a bumpy external surface. -----The spores are ornamented with many sharp microscopic spines and can cause severe irritation of the lung (lycoperdonosis) when deliberately inhaled. This condition has been reported to afflict dogs that play or run where puffballs are present. chemistry= wikipedia---> ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycoperdon_... ), ( http://www.mycobank.org/MycoTaxo.aspx?Li... )