Lycoperdon pyriforme, commonly known as the pear-shaped puffball, is a saprobic fungus

Fungus

A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...

 present throughout much of the world. Emerging in autumn, this puffball

Puffball

A puffball is a member of any of several groups of fungus in the division Basidiomycota. The puffballs were previously treated as a taxonomic group called the Gasteromycetes or Gasteromycetidae, but they are now known to be a polyphyletic assemblage. The distinguishing feature of all puffballs is...

 is common and abundant on decaying logs of both deciduous

Deciduous

Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...

 and coniferous wood. It is considered a choice edible

Edible mushroom

Edible mushrooms are the fleshy and edible fruiting bodies of several species of fungi. Mushrooms belong to the macrofungi, because their fruiting structures are large enough to be seen with the naked eye. They can appear either below ground or above ground where they may be picked by hand...

 when still immature and the inner flesh is white.

Taxonomy

The fungus was first described in the scientific literature by Jacob Christian Schaeffer in 1774. In 2001, DNA evidence compiled by Dirk Krüger and a number of other mycologists suggested that the genus Lycoperdon

Lycoperdon

Lycoperdon is a genus of puffball mushrooms. The genus has a widespread distribution and contains about 50 species. In general, it contains the smaller species such as the pear shaped puffball and the gem studded puffball. Most of the time they grow from dead wood and if they grow through the...

was polyphyletic, with the pear-shaped puffball differing most significantly from the group. This finding was supported by several morphological

Morphology (biology)

In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....

 differences including the presence of rhizomorph

Mycelial cord

Mycelial cords are linear aggregations of parallel-oriented hyphae. The mature cords are composed of wide, empty vessel hyphae surrounded by narrower sheathing hyphae...

s and its preference for wood. A 2003 publication of further research moved the puffball to the genus Morganella with the specific epithet's ending changed for agreement

Agreement (linguistics)

In languages, agreement or concord is a form of cross-reference between different parts of a sentence or phrase. Agreement happens when a word changes form depending on the other words to which it relates....

. In 2008, however, Larsson and Jeppson revisited the phylogeny of the Lycoperdaceae

Lycoperdaceae

Lycoperdaceae is a family of approximately 150 fungi now known to lie in the Agaricales. Historically they were placed in their own order Lycoperdales. Members of the Lycoperdaceae family are known as the true puffballs. Unlike other types of fungi that hold spores in gills or teeth, puffballs...

, with a broader sampling of species, and retained the taxon in Lycoperdon. The specific epithet pyriforme is Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 for "pear-shaped".

Description

The fruiting body of the pear-shaped puffball measures 1.5 to 4.5 cm in width by 2 to 4.5 cm in height. They are often pear-shaped as the name suggests, but they may also be nearly spherical. When very young they are covered in small white spines that typically fall off before maturity. A small developing pore may be visible at the top, while the sterile base of the mushroom is small and appears to be pinched in. Colour ranges from nearly white to yellowish brown with the darker shades developing with age. The central pore ruptures at late maturity to allow the wind and rain to disperse the spores. The base is attached to the wood by means of rhizomorph

Mycelial cord

Mycelial cords are linear aggregations of parallel-oriented hyphae. The mature cords are composed of wide, empty vessel hyphae surrounded by narrower sheathing hyphae...

s (thick, cord-like strands of mycelium

Mycelium

thumb|right|Fungal myceliaMycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus, consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. The mass of hyphae is sometimes called shiro, especially within the fairy ring fungi. Fungal colonies composed of mycelia are found in soil and on or within many other...

).

The gleba

Gleba

Gleba is the fleshy spore-bearing inner mass of fungi such as the puffball or stinkhorn.The gleba is a solid mass of spores, generated within an enclosed area within the sporocarp. The continuous maturity of the sporogenous cells leave the spores behind as a powdery mass that can be easily blown away...

, or inner spore

Spore

In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many bacteria, plants, algae, fungi and some protozoa. According to scientist Dr...

 mass, is white when young, but it becomes greenish-yellow to dark olive-brown with age. The spores measure 3 to 4.5 µm and are round, smooth and a dark olive-brown in colour.

External links

• Mushroom Expert Profile