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Photography

Lycoperdon echinatum

 

Lycoperdon echinatum, the Spiny Puffball, has a small, globe-shaped head on a very short stipe. The soft reddish-brown spines are in groups of threes. Beech forests are its habitat.

Description

A vertically-flattened globe-shaped fruitbody on a short, infertile stem; initially white, soon becoming reddish brown. The soft spines are in sets of three or four that converge at the tips.

At maturity the spines fall off leaving a net-like pattern on the browning skin, which eventually ruptures at the apex to release the spores.

Dimensions

Typically 2.5 to 5cm across; 3 to 7cm tall; spines typically 4 to 5 mm long.

Other features

Unlike many of the other puffballs, this is an inedible fungus.

Stipe

None.

Spores

Purple-brown.

Odour/taste

Not distinctive.

Habitat

Mainly found in beech forests in chalk and limestone areas.

Season

July to November.

Occurrence

Uncommon in most areas.

Similar species

  1. Lycoperdon perlatum is paler and covered in warts rather than spines.
  2. Lycoperdon mammiforme is white at first and then its surface breaks up into large cream scales rather than spines.

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