Lycoperdon perlatum (Common Puffball)
Family
Lycoperdaceae
Location
North America, Europe, South America
Dimensions
2.5-6 cm diameter * 2-9 cm tall
Edibility
This site contains no information about the edibility or toxicity of mushrooms.
Description
Lycoperdon perlatum, also known as Common Puffball, is a yellowish-brown pear or top-shaped fungus, typically with a distinct stem and covered with short spines, each surrounded by smaller, grainlike scales. It grows summer to fall, solitary to densely clustered on soil or humus in forests, along roads or trails or in open areas.

Fruiting body white, becoming ochre-brown, covered with short pyramidial warts which fall off to reveal endoperidium decorated with a reticulate pattern. It develops later a central perforation on the top through which spore powder is liberated by raindrops and wind currents. The spore mass is at first white and firm, becoming olive-brown and powdery. Spores are pale yellow to olive-brown.

Microscopic Features: The spores are approximately 3.5-4.5µm in diameter and have spherical shapes, characterized by thick walls.

Lycoperdon perlatum on the First Nature Web site.
Lycoperdon perlatum on the MushroomExpert.Com Web site.

Many mushrooms are poisonous and some are lethally poisonous. It can be very difficult to distinguish between an edible and a poisonous mushroom. Because of that, we strongly advise against consuming wild mushrooms, and this site does not contain any information about the edibility or toxicity of mushrooms.

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