Lycoperdon pyriforme, the Stump Puffball, is
edible, but only very young specimens should be collected. Once the
spore mass begins turning yellow the fungi are unsuitable for eating.
Description
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The club-shaped fruit body of the Stump
Puffball is initially covered in very short pyramidal warts. At
first white, the skin soon turns brown and a darker are develops at the
apex, which ultimately opens to release the spores.
The fruit body is attached to the substrate - usually the stump,
half-buried rotting branches or roots of a dead tree - by means of long,
white mycelial filaments that extend deep into the rotting substrate. |
Dimensions |
Typically 1.5 to 4 cm across; 3 to 4 cm tall. |
Other features |
Like many other puffballs, these fungi are
edible only if picked when young and white throughout. They are
easily gathered because of their habit of growing is dense clumps,
but being only mediocre they are not much sought after. |
Stipe |
The short, spongy stipe is usually more or less parallel or slightly conical
tapering in towards a truncated base; it
contains infertile material that remains white even when the gleba in the
'head' of the fungus has matured and turned dark olive-brown. |
Spores |
Olive-brown. |
Odour/taste |
Unpleasant odour; taste not distinctive. |
Habitat |
Found growing mainly on stumps and roots of
dead trees. It may appear to be growing on soil, but upon inspection there
is always wood just beneath the surface. |
Season |
July to early December. |
Occurrence |
Very common. |
Similar species |
- Lycoperdon perlatum is somewhat larger, and it is covered with
much larger pearly warts.
- Lycoperdon mammiforme is white at first before its surface
breaks up into large cream scales rather than warts.
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