Lycoperdon pusillum Batsch

Common Name: none

• Sporocarp

  Fruiting body 1-2 cm broad, subglobose to slightly compressed, the base pinched, crimped or shallowly folded when young; often with an adhering white cord-like rhizomorph; exoperidium white, sometimes dotted pale-brown or bruising so where handled, up to 1 mm thick when fresh, smooth to finely tomentose, often arranged in tiny flattened warts; at maturity the exoperidium shriveling, leaving small yellowish-brown scales on a pale-brown endoperidum, the latter releasing spores via a small apical pore; gleba soft, white, becoming yellowish-olive to olive, finally medium brown at maturity and powdery; sterile base lacking; odor and taste not distinctive.

• Spores

  Spores 3.25-4.25 x 3-4 µm, nearly round, thick-walled, smooth to slightly roughened, with a short stub at one end (mucronate).

• Habitat

  Solitary to scattered in sparse grass, i.e. pastures, playing fields, and golf courses; fruiting during the summer in watered areas and after the fall rains.

• Edibility

  Edible, but insignificant; note this species could be mistaken for an immature Scleroderma species, some of which are toxic.

• Comments

  To find Lycoperdon pusillum, think small. This diminutive member of the "true puffballs," is seldom larger than the diameter of a quarter and often smaller. It has a preference for sparse grass and often fruits at the same time as Agaricus californicus, A. campestris, and Marasmius oreades.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Fred Stevens: Lycoperdon pusillum (CP)
  • Fred Stevens: Lycoperdon pusillum (CP)
  • Fred Stevens: Lycoperdon pusillum (CP)
  • Miller: sp. 363 (D & CP)
  • Orr & Orr: p. 116 (D)

  (D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)