Bovista pila Berk. & M.A. Curtis
tumbling puffball
Agaricaceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
tumbling puffball
Agaricaceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
Species Information
Summary:
Bovista pila is 3-9cm across and spherical. The exterior is white becoming pinkish then flaking off in patches to reveal a shiny bronze-metallic or copper-metallic inner layer that is thin, tough, and persistent, with cracks or a pore opening at top. The spore mass inside is white at first then brown to purplish brown. The fruitbody is attached to the ground by a small cord that breaks when mature allowing the spore case to roll about releasing spores. Spores are round and smooth.
Odor:
none (Miller)
Taste:
unknown (Miller)
Microscopic:
spores 3.5-4.3 microns, "round, smooth, with short colorless stalk", (Lincoff)
Notes:
B. pila is found in BC (in Redhead(5)) and there are collections from BC at the University of British Columbia. The New York Botanical Garden has collections from WA, OR, and ID. Desjardin(6) illustrate it for CA.
Habitat and Range
SIMILAR SPECIES
Bovista plumbea is somewhat smaller, "attached to the soil by a small patch of fibers rather than a small cord", and the spore case is "bluish gray to purplish umber", (Ammirati).Habitat
single or in groups, in grassy areas, stables, corrals, or open woods, summer and fall; old spore cases can last the winter, (Ammirati), June to October, (Lincoff)
Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Leptosporomyces mundus (H.S. Jacks. & Dearden) Julich
Peniophora munda H.S. Jacks. & Dearden Mycologia