Specimen #15: Lycoperdon pyriforme

Collection #: 15

Scientific Name:  Lycoperdon pyriforme

Phylum: Basidiomycota; Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Family: Agaricaceae

Common Name: Pear-Shaped Puffball

Location: Hiram College Field Station

Habitat: Log surface

Date of collecting: October 8th

Collector: Cornelia

Notes: A couple of these guys growing together; fleshy when fresh, and light and puff when dried out later.

How did I key this out:

Fig.1 Specimen in habitat

   

Fig.2 Single fruiting body

Fig.3 Spore mass when cut open the fruiting body

Fig.4 White micellium at base under a dissecting scope

Fig.5 Spore mass under a dissecting scope

Fig.6 Spores under a microscope

From the pictures above, it is pretty obvious for us to see that this is a puffball fungi. As a result of this, we can go directly to page 677 of the book for  puffballs.



The following steps is how I went through the keys:

Key to the Lycoperdales & Allies:
1. (B) Not as above (fruiting body may rupture in starlike fashion, but if so then there is no separate spore case within) (2) 
2. (B) Spore mass not containing peridioles, or if so then the peridioles considerable larger than grains of sand (usually appearing more like seeds) (4)
4. (B) Not as above; peridioles absent; spores produced in a single large chamber (the spore case) (5)
5. (B) Not as above; skin (peridium) thick or thin; spore mass white when young and normally softening or becoming mushy as it darkens, then becoming powdery; basidia usually borne in a hymenium; capillitium usually present (6)
6. (B) Not as above (7)
7. (B) Not as above (8)
8. (A) Sterile base present, often as a narrowed stemlike base beneath the spore case (section fruiting body lengthwise if unsure) (9)
9. (B) Fruiting body small to medium-sized (usually smaller than a baseball), typically rupturing through an apical pore, slit, or large mouth; usually thin-skinned (Lycoperdon & Allies, P 690)

Key to Lycoperdon & Allies:
1. (B) Not as above; fruiting body not dark brown when young (but may be pale to medium brown when young and become dark brown in old age) (2)
2. (A) Growing on wood, sawdust, or lignin-rich humus (if in humus, then base with white mycelial threads or rhizomorphys (Fig.4) and spore case with inconspicuous spine if any) (3)
3. (B) Not as above; fruiting body never pitted, usually with white mycelial threads (rhizomorphs) at base or in surrounding substrate; sterile base well-developed; common and widespread (L. pyriforme & others, p.691)

Description of the species:
Fruiting body: pear-shaped to nearly round, but usually with a stemlike sterile base; 1.5-5 cm high and sometimes almost as broad in the widest part. Peridium(skin) whitish to pale brown when young, yellowish to dark rusty-brown in age; at first smooth or with a few small scattered spines on top, then becoming finely cracked to form small patches or minute granules or particles (making it rough to the touch), this rough outer layer slowly but eventually falling away to expose the smooth inner layer in which an apical pore or tear is very slow to form.
Sterile base: small or well-developed, spongy when fresh, occupying the stemlike base (if base is present); chambers very small, conspicuous white mycelial threads (rhizomorphs) usually radiating from the base and connected to others in the surrounding wood or humus. Spore mass: at first firm and white, then yellow to olive and finally deep olive-brown and powdery. Spores 3-4.5 microns, round, smooth.

Habitat: Scattered to densely gregarious or clustered on stumps, rotting logs, sawdust, and in lignin-rich humus; widely distributed and common, fruiting mostly in the fall and winter in our area but old bleached-out fruiting bodies can be found most any time. It sometimes forms dense clusters "as large as a loaf of bread "(to borrow a phrase from Alexander Smith).
Edibility:Edible when young, but only worth collecting when it occurs in quantity. In my fickle fungal opinion ir is one of the better puffballs, but is not as good as "a loaf of bread" and is apt to be bitter if not absolutely white and firm inside.
Comments: The tendency to grow on rotting wood is a distinctive feature of this pearshaped puffball, but it often appears to be terrestrial (when growing from buried wood or humus rich in lignin). The white rhizomorphsor“roots” that emanate from the base of the fruiting body plus the narrowed or stemlike base and absence of prominent spines are also good fieldmarks. It is one of the few Lycoperdons that occurs in sufficient quantity to merit collecting for the table. Other species: L.pedicellatum also grows on rotten wood, but has longer spines and ornamented spores.

Collecting and keying story:

Sean was the one who found this specimen. He grabbed the piece of log with the puffballs on it and bring it over to us so that we could each get a sample piece of the fruiting body. Puffballs are cute and puff. When I cut it open, I see this spore mass that looks like cute, soft dark colored cotton candy.

Phylum, order and family name cited from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycoperdon_pyriforme

Keys cited from:
Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora (Second Edition).  This book was printed by Ten Speed Press with copyright @ 1979 and 1986.