Pear-shaped puffball (Lycoperdon pyriforme) photo and description

Pear-shaped puffball (Lycoperdon pyriforme)

• Lycoperdon serotinum
• Morganella pyriformis

fruiting body:

Pear-shaped, with a clearly defined “pseudo-leg”, which, however, can easily hide in the moss or in the substrate – from which the mushroom is perceived as round. The diameter of the fruiting body of the pear-shaped puffball in the “thick” part is 3-7 cm, the height is 2-4 cm. The color is light, almost white when young, undergoes metamorphosis as it matures, until it becomes dirty brown. The surface of young mushrooms is prickly, in adults it is smooth, often coarse-meshed, with a hint of possible cracking of the peel. The skin is thick, adult mushrooms easily “peel off”, like a boiled egg. The pulp with a pleasant mushroom smell and a slight taste, when young, is white, of a cottony constitution, gradually acquires a reddish-brown color, and then seems to come entirely to spores. In mature specimens of the pear-shaped raincoat (as, indeed, in other raincoats), a hole opens in the upper part, from where, in fact, spores are ejected.

Spore powder:

Brown.

Spread:

The pear-shaped puffball is found from the beginning of July (sometimes earlier) until the end of September, it bears fruit evenly, without showing any particular cyclicality. It grows in groups, large and dense, on thoroughly rotted, mossy woody remains of both deciduous and coniferous species.

Similar species:

The pronounced pseudopod and the way of growth (rotting wood, in large groups) do not allow to confuse pear-shaped puffball with any other common members of the Lycoperdaceae family.

Like all puffballs, Lycoperdon pyriforme can be eaten until its flesh begins to darken. However, there are very different opinions about the expediency of eating raincoats for food.