Desert shaggy mane

Description:

Cap narrowly ellipsoid to obovate, 4.0-11.0 (15) cm tall, 2.0-4.0 cm broad, not expanding, the margin fused to stipe except occasionally breaking free in senescence; surface two-layered, the outer layer cream-white, sparsely covered with flattened tan-colored scales, partially sloughing off in age, revealing a thin, brittle, glabrous cream to buff-colored inner layer, the latter eventually fissured or cracked, releasing spores; odor and taste untried Gills replaced by a puffball-like gleba, at first pallid to yellowish, sometimes with vinaceous tints, at maturity dark-brown, dark reddish-brown to blackish, the spore mass embedded in a capillitium

Habitat:

Scattered to grouped along dry washes and roadsides of the desert regions of California; fruiting spring, summer, and fall after periods of moisture; dried fruiting bodies persisting for months; occasional to locally common