Lycoperdon pyriforme - Stump Puffball

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Lycoperdon pyriforme, the Stump Puffball, is edible, but only very young specimens should be collected; however, they are not highly regarded because they do not taste nearly as good as the best edible puffballs. Once the spore mass begins turning yellow the fungi are quite definitely unsuitable for eating.

Swarms of these pear-shaped fruitbodies are a common sight on dead stumps. (If they appear to be growing on soil this is simply an indicator of buried trunks or branches.)

Identification Guide

	Description The club-shaped fruitbody 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 fruitbody 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 4cm across; 3 to 4cm 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.
Stem	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, eventually becoming dark brown when fully mature.
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.