Bovista plumbea
| Bovista plumbea | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Agaricales |
| Family: | Lycoperdaceae |
| Genus: | Bovista |
| Species: | B. plumbea
|
| Binomial name | |
| Bovista plumbea Pers. (1795)
| |
Bovista plumbea | |
|---|---|
 | Glebal hymenium |
 | No distinct cap |
 | Hymenium attachment is not applicable |
| Lacks a stipe |
 | Spore print is brown |
 | Ecology is saprotrophic |
 | Edibility is edible or inedible |
Bovista plumbea, commonly known as the tumbling puffball, tumbleball,[1] or paltry puffball,[2] is a small puffball mushroom. It is white when young and greyish in age. Easily confused with immature Bovista dermoxantha, it is attached to the substrate by a tuft of mycelium. It is commonly found in Western Europe and California.
Synonyms
[edit]Obsolete synonyms for B. plumbea include:
- Bovista ovalispora Cooke & Massee 1887
- Bovista plumbea Pers. 1796
- Bovista plumbea var. ovalispora (Cooke & Massee) F. Šmarda 1958
- Calvatia bovista (L.) Pers. 1896
- Lycoperdon bovista Sowerby 1803
- Lycoperdon plumbeum Vittad. 1842[2]
Description
[edit]The fruiting body of the sporocarp is 1.5–3.5 centimetres (1⁄2–1+1⁄2 in) broad, attached to the substrate by a tuft of mycelium, and spherical to slightly compressed.[3] The exoperidium is white, becoming buff to pale-tan and minutely tomentose, and sometimes areolate.[4] 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.[5]
Spores
[edit]The spores 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.[6]
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Spores
Distribution and habitat
[edit]It is commonly found in Western Europe and California.[7]
It often lives in scattered to clustered in disturbed areas, especially in sparse grass.[5]
Uses
[edit]The young globes can be halved and cooked,[8] but are bland and too insubstantial to be of much interest.[1][5]
References
[edit]
- ^ a b Arora, David (1986) [1979]. Mushrooms Demystified: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fleshy Fungi (2nd ed.). Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press. pp. 697–98. ISBN 978-0-89815-170-1.
- ^ a b Bovista plumbea Archived March 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Smith, A.H. (1951). Puffballs and Their Allies in Michigan. University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, MI. 131 p.
- ^ Kreisel, H. (1967). Taxonomisch-Pflanzengeographische Monographie Der Gattung Bovista. J. Cramer: Lehre. 244 p.
- ^ a b c "California Fungi: Bovista plumbea". Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
- ^ Calonge, F.D. (1998). Flora Mycologica Iberica. Vol. 3. Gasteromycetes, I. Lycoperdales, Nidulariales, Phallales, Sclerodermatales, Tulostomatales. J. Cramer: Berlin, Germany. 271 p.
- ^ Species: Bovista plumbea Pers. 1795 Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Francis-Baker, Tiffany (2021). Concise Foraging Guide. The Wildlife Trusts. London: Bloomsbury. p. 185. ISBN 978-1-4729-8474-6.