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Gemmed-Studded Puffball, Devil's Snuffbox
Scientific Name: Lycoperdon perlatum
Family Name: Lycoperdaceae
Edibility: Choice (Caution)
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Description: Mushroom: 1 - 2 3/8 inches (2.5 - 6 cm) wide, 1 1/4 - 3 inches (3 - 7.5 cm) high; usually round to turban-shaped with somewhat elongated, stalklike base; covered with long and short spines, long ones readily breaking off and leaving distinct marks on surface; opening by pore at top; white, becoming buff. Spore mass white, becoming green-tinged ochre-brown. Sterile base sometimes elongated, stalklike, persistent. Spores: 3.5 - 4.5 microns; round, minutely warted, olive-brownish. Season: July - October. Habitat: Single to scattered or clustered, in open woods, along roads, on ground in urban areas. Range: Widely distributed in North America. Comments: Formerly called Lycoperdon gemmatum. This species is easy to recognize; any puffball that could be confused with it has purplish-brown spores. It is a choice edible if, when cut in half, it has undifferentiated white flesh. [Lincoff, Gary H., The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1981]
Fruiting Body: 2.5 - 5 cm wide, 2.5 - 8 cm tall; pear-shaped to turban-shaped; surface covered with numerous short, pyramidal spines of two sizes; white at first, aging to yellow-brown. Flesh solid and white when young, aging to yellow, then olive brown and powdery. Spore Color: Olive brown. Fruiting: Solitary or in groups on mulch, compost piles, or the ground in conifer and hardwood forests; summer, fall (also winter in the South). Range: Throughout North America. Comments: Also known as Gem-studded Puffball.. Edible when the interior is pure white. Discard those that have started to change color; old specimens may cause gastric distress. Similar Species: Pear-shaped Puffball (Lycoperdon pyriforme; edible if internally pure white) has a smoother-looking surface (feels like sandpaper) and grows in clusters -- often in large numbers -- on decaying wood. [Bessette, Alan and Sundberg, Walter J., Macmillan Field Guides; Mushrooms; A quick reference guide to mushrooms of North America, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, 1987]