Apioperdon pyriforme (Schaeff.) Vizzini
pear-shaped puffball
Agaricaceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
pear-shaped puffball
Agaricaceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
Species Information
Summary:
Features include 1) pear-shaped to round, whitish to yellowish to brownish fruiting body without prominent spines, 2) white threads connecting the base to the wood it fruits on, 3) clustered growth, and 4) subgleba that remains white even when mature.
Odor:
unpleasant (Breitenbach), strong, gas, (Buczacki)
Taste:
mild (Breitenbach)
Microscopic:
spores 3-4.5 x 3-4.5 microns, round, smooth, (Arora), spores 3.5-5.5 x 3.5-5.5 microns, round, "smooth, brownish, thick-walled", with droplets; basidia 9-13 x 3-4.5 microns, clavate, without basal clamp connection; capillitium 2.5-6 microns wide, brownish, elastic, branched, without septa, thick-walled, sometimes with bumps, without pores [pits]; paracapillitium 3-6 microns across, brownish, thin-walled, without clamp connections; sphaerocysts "irregularly rounded, fusiform, to polygonal-thorny", (Breitenbach)
Notes:
Apioperdon pyriforme is widely distributed and common. New York Botanical Garden has collections from WA, OR, ID, and also AB, ON, AK, AL, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, ME, MI, MO, MT, ND, NE, NH, NM, NY, OH, PA, SD, UT, WI, Jamaica, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Venezuela, Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, (NYBG). It is also reported from AR, AZ, DE, MD, MN, MS, NC, NH, NJ, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WV, WY, (Bates). The Pacific Forestry Centre and the University of British Columbia have collections from BC.
EDIBILITY
edible when young, may be bitter if not absolutely white and firm inside, (Arora)
Habitat and Range
SIMILAR SPECIES
Lycoperdon perlatum grows on the ground and has flesh in the sterile base that turns olive-brown at maturity, while that of A. pyriforme is still white, (Breitenbach). Lycoperdon nigrescens has short spines that lean together to form pyramids, has sterile base tissue that is white but becomes olive-brown, and grows on soil. See also SIMILAR section of Lycoperdon nettyanum and Lycoperdon molle.Habitat
"scattered to densely gregarious or clustered on stumps, rotting logs, sawdust, and in lignin-rich humus", (Arora), usually "in clusters of up to dozens", more rarely single, on dead, usually rotten wood of hardwoods and conifers, "commonly on stumps and roots, sometimes also on soil, but then always connected to wood by mycelial strands", (Breitenbach), fruits in fall, but spore cases persist throughout year, (McKnight), also on dead Fomes fomentarius (Schalkwijk-Barendsen), summer to fall (Buczacki)
Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Corticium cinereum Pers.
Corticium fumigatum Thuem.