Puffball

Description:

Spotted in my garden. 2 Small ones, a bigger one of about 30 mm and one that has exploded.

Notes:

A pinkish to yellow-brown ball which is smooth or becomes slightly scaly. Leathery but brittle, splitting irregularly. The thick covering or rind (peridium) encloses a purplish interior (gleba) that is solid first and gradually matures into a dry mass of spores. Scleroderma cepa is an ectomycorrhizal fungus used as a soil inoculant (agricultural amendments that use beneficial microbes to promote plant health) in agriculture and horticulture. (http://www.greenplanet.co.za/mushroom.ph...)