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Bovista plumbea
Bovista plumbea, commonly known as the tumbling puffball, tumbleball,[1] or paltry puffball,[2] is a small puffball mushroom commonly found in Western Europe and California,[3] white when young and greyish in age. Easily confused with immature Bovista dermoxantha, it is attached to the substrate by a tuft of mycelium. DescriptionThe fruiting body of the sporocarp is 1.5–3.5 cm broad, attached to the substrate by a tuft of mycelium, and spherical to slightly compressed.[4] The exoperidium is white, becoming buff to pale-tan and minutely tomentose, and sometimes areolate.[5] It eventually flakes away, or peels off in sheets, the latter occurring at maturation in hot, dry conditions. In contrast, the endoperidium membranes are lead-grey, with or without adhering fragments of exoperidium.[6] SporesSpores are 5.0–6.5 x 4.0–5.5 μm, ovoid, thick-walled, and nearly smooth, with a central oil droplet, and a 7.5–11.5 μm pedicel. The capillitium is composed of individual elements, rather than interwoven, main branches thick-walled, flexuous, rapidly tapering, forking more or less dichotomously, ochre-colored in KOH. The spores are released via a small apical pore. The gleba is white, turning dingy yellowish, olive-brown, finally dark-brown and firm-textured. However, the subgleba and sterile base are usually absent. Fruiting occurs throughout the mushroom season.[7]
SynonymsObsolete synonyms for B. plumbea include:
Distribution and habitatThey often live in scattered to clustered in disturbed areas, especially in sparse grass.[6] UsesThe young globes can be halved and cooked,[8] but may be too small to be worthwhile.[6] References Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bovista plumbea.
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