Lycoperdon umbrinum

Lycoperdon umbrinum
Lycoperdon umbrinum, found in Gala (Norway) in late August.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Basidiomycota
Class:	Agaricomycetes
Order:	Agaricales
Family:	Agaricaceae
Genus:	Lycoperdon
Species:	L. umbrinum
Binomial name
Lycoperdon umbrinum Pers. (1801)

Lycoperdon umbrinum
float Mycological characteristics
	glebal hymenium
	no distinct cap
	hymenium attachment is irregular or not applicable
	lacks a stipe
	spore print is olive
	ecology is saprotrophic
	edibility: edible

Lycoperdon umbrinum, better known as the umber-brown puffball, is a species of puffball mushroom in the genus Lycoperdon. The species is found in China,^[1] Europe,^[2] and North America.^[3]

Description

The L. umbrinum has a fruiting body, which is shaped like the top of a pear, with a short, slightly buried stipe. It is 2 to 5 cm (0.8 to 2.0 in) tall and 1 to 4 cm (0.4 to 1.6 in) broad. The fruiting body starts as pale, then goes reddish then to a blackish brown. The outer wall has slender, persistent spines, which are up to 1 mm long. The spores are roughly sspherical, and about 3.5–5.5 µm in diameter, with fine warts and a pedicel that is 0.5–15 µm long. It is uncommonly found, although most often found in coniferous woods on sandy soils.^[4]

Related pages

• Puffball

References

1. Zhishu B, Zheng G, Taihui L. (1993). The Macrofungus Flora of China's Guangdong Province (Chinese University Press). New York: Columbia University Press. p. 692. ISBN 962-201-556-5.
2. Jordan M. (2004). The Encyclopedia of Fungi of Britain and Europe. London: Frances Lincoln Publishers. p. 358. ISBN 0-7112-2378-5. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
3. Miller HR, Miller OK. (2006). North American Mushrooms: a Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi. Guilford, Conn.: Falcon Guide. p. 455. ISBN 0-7627-3109-5. Retrieved 2010-01-05.^{[permanent dead link]}
4. Ellis, J. B.; Ellis, Martin B. (1990). Fungi without Gills (Hymenomycetes and Gasteromycetes): an Identification Handbook. London: Chapman and Hall. p. 239. ISBN 0-412-36970-2.

Other websites

• California Fungi