Lycoperdon marginatum Vittad.
naked puffball
Agaricaceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
naked 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) a flattened spherical fruitbody with spines that are shed in small sheets, the color white at first, soon becoming pinkish to clay-colored and when old deep brown, 2) an inner layer smooth to scurfy or pitted, and characteristically with a netted pattern, 3) a spore mass that is olive, becoming grayish to purplish brown, 4) a sterile base that is well-developed with chambers 0.1cm wide, at times with a short rooting base, 5) growth on sandy soil in summer and fall, 6) round spores, and 7) capillitial characters.
Odor:
none (Miller)
Taste:
mild (Miller)
Microscopic:
spores 3.5-4.2 x 3.5-4.2 microns, minutely ornamented; capillitial threads 3-6 microns wide, (Smith), spores 3.5-4.5 x 3.5-4.5 microns, round, smooth or nearly so; capillitium 3-6 microns wide, seldom branched, with attenuated tips, thick-walled, brownish, (McKnight), spores 3.5-4.5 x 3.5-4.5 microns, round, minutely punctate to smooth, sometimes with a broken pedicel, pale brown, (Bessette), spores 3.5-4 microns in diameter, round, slightly lighter in color than the capillitium, some with small pieces of pedicels attached, smooth or slightly rough under oil immersion, surrounded by a thin, colorless envelope, pieces of colorless pedicels mixed with the spores; capillitium (1.6)3.5-5.0(8) microns wide, variable in width, a medium yellow-brown, with distinct darker-color walls up to 0.8 microns thick, occasionally pitted, sinuous in the thinner parts, "irregular thickenings along the edge, branched, occasionally septate, tapering both gradually and abruptly", (Bowerman)
Notes:
Lycoperdon marginatum is known from throughout the United States, has been previously reported from AL, AZ, AK, CO, CT, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WV, and WI, Canada and Europe, (Bates). It has been reported from ID and western MT (Ramsey). New York Botanical Garden has collections from ID (determined by W.B. Cooke), ON, AL, CA, CT, FL, IA, IL, IN, KS, MA, ME, MI, NC, NH, NY, OH, PA, SD, TN, UT, VA, VT, WI, Cuba, Colombia, Uruguay. There are Paul Kroeger collections from BC at the University of British Columbia.
EDIBILITY
edible when spore mass white, (Bessette)
Habitat and Range
SIMILAR SPECIES
Lycoperdon pulcherrimum and Lycoperdon curtisii lack the netted pattern on the inner spore case characteristic for L. marginatum after the scales are shed, (McKnight, who only mentions the netted pattern in the description of Lycoperdon echinatum and says that the inner spore case of L. marginatum is "scurfy to pitted"). L. pulcherrimum has spines 0.3-0.6cm long (Bessette). Lycoperdon curtisii is similar when immature but L. curtisii 1) is usually smaller, 2) has a cortex that is more persistent and does not flake off in large patches, 3) has a paler inner peridium, 4) has smaller spores 3-3.5 microns in diameter, and 5) has colorless or almost colorless capillitium (Bowerman). See also SIMILAR section of Lycoperdon nettyanum.Habitat
scattered to numerous, even cespitose [in tufts], on sandy soil; summer and fall, (Ramsey), on sandy soil, summer and fall, (Smith), single, scattered, or in groups, "on the ground, usually on sandy soil, in oak-pine woods, or in nutrient poor habitats; June to October", (Bessette)
Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Corticium cornigerum Bourdot