Fungi
Puffballs & the like

Puffball & the like field guide

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At maturity, the fruitbodies of the fungi in this group generally contain prodigious quantities of powdery spores. The fruitbodies may be spherical to pear-shaped or somewhat columnar in shape and range from less than a centimetre to over 30 centimetres in extent. Spores are mostly some shade of brown, from pale yellow-brown to dark brown, depending on species.

 

Almost all species produce their fruitbodies on the ground, a few produce them on on wood.

 

In the following hints you see examples of useful identification features and a few of the more commonly seen genera in which at least some species (not necessarily all) show those features.

 

Hints

Spore mass lilac: Calvatia.

Fruitbody over 30 centimetres in diameter: Calvatia.

 

Warning

If you have a flattish fruitbody, with purplish-black powdery spores inside a thin, brittle crust - check the slime mould Fuligo septica.

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Puffballs & the like

Simple spore sac, with an apical hole [puffballs]
Spore sac on a star-like base [earthstars]
Fruitbody thick walled, splitting from the top
Fruitbody walls break away to expose the spores
Other puffballs, etc (& the unknowns)

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