Lycoperdon curtisii Berk.
Curtis' puffball
Agaricaceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
Curtis' puffball
Agaricaceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
Photograph
Species Information
Summary:
Features include 1) a small, white, spherical or nearly spherical fruitbody, 2) white crowded spines joined at their tips into star-shaped groups, with fine granular material between spines, 3) an inner layer which when exposed is pale brown and smooth, 4) opening by a single pore that may enlarge to a mouth or elongated slit, 5) a spore mass that is white becoming powdery and olivaceous, 6) a sterile base that is poorly developed to scant, 7) the attachment of the fruitbody to the substrate by a pad of dirt and mycelium but without conspicuous rhizomorphs, 8) growth in grass in late summer and fall, 9) round spores with small spines, and 10) the microscopic details of the capillitium.
Odor:
mild (Miller)
Taste:
mild (Miller)
Microscopic:
spores 3-3.5 x 3-3.5 microns, round, "ornamented with small spines, ochraceous to light yellow-brown in KOH", "pedicel absent to inconspicuous"; paracapillitium "abundant, threads 3-7 microns wide", incrusted with colorless debris, "frequently septate, sparingly branched, the extremities rounded", walls parallel, colorless, thin, unpitted, eucapillitium scant, of threads up to 4.5 microns wide, "with thickened, brownish, unpitted walls, unbranched, more numerous near the endoperidium", (Smith(39))
Notes:
Lycoperdon curtisii is found at least in BC (in Redhead), WA (Ramsey), AB (Schalkwijk-Barendsen), and ON and PQ, (Bowerman). It widely distributed in North America (Smith(4)).
Habitat and Range
SIMILAR SPECIES
Lycoperdon marginatum is similar when immature, but L. marginatum 1) is usually larger, 2) has a cortex that is less persistent and flakes off in large patches, 3) has a darker inner peridium, 4) has larger spores, and 5) has darker capillitium, (Bowerman). Lycoperdon subincarnatum also has colorless capillitium but has a pinkish brown cortex and pitted inner peridium, (Bowerman). See also SIMILAR section of Lycoperdon nettyanum.Habitat
gregarious to cespitose in pastures and open areas, fall, (Smith(39)), gregarious in grass, late summer and fall, (Ramsey)
Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Byssomerulius serpens (Tode) Parmasto
Merulius serpens Tode
Vascellum curtisii (Berk.) Kreisel sensu A.H. Sm.