''Lycoperdon umbrinum'', commonly known as the umber-brown puffball, is a type of

Puffball Puffballs are a type of fungus featuring a ball-shaped fruit body that bursts on impact, releasing a cloud of dust-like spores when mature. Puffballs belong to the division Basidiomycota and encompass several genera, including ''Calvatia'', ''Ca ...

mushroom in the genus ''

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. It was formerly cl ...

''. It is found in China, Europe, and North America.

Description

This species has a

fruit body In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the Ovary (plants), ovary after flowering plant, flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their ...

that is shaped like a

top A spinning top, or simply a top, is a toy with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom, designed to be spun on its vertical axis, balancing on the tip due to the gyroscopic effect. Once set in motion, a top will usually wobble for a few ...

, with a short, partly buried stipe. It is tall and broad. The fruit body is initially pale brown then reddish to blackish brown, and the outer wall has slender, persistent spines up to 1 mm long.

Spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

s are roughly spherical, 3.5–5.5 µm in diameter, with fine warts and a

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

that is 0.5–15 µm long. It is uncommon and found mostly in

coniferous Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extant ...

woods on sandy soils. The species is considered

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

References

External links

California Fungi
Edible fungi Fungi of Asia Fungi of Europe Fungi of North America Puffballs Fungi described in 1801 Taxa named by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon umbrinum {{Agaricaceae-stub