''Scleroderma meridionale'' is a
puffball-like fungus in the family
Sclerodermataceae. It was originally described in 1970 from Portugal,
but is also found in North America. The fungus has a roughly circular to irregularly shaped
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 ...
up to in diameter with a thick, rooting base. The
peridium is up to 2 mm thick and has a dry, roughened surface colored tan to yellow. Mature fruit bodies tend to split into irregular lobes, revealing a dark brownish- to blackish-gray spore mass (
gleba). The
spores are spherical with small spikes and measure 12–20
µm
The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Unit ...
. ''Scleroderma meridionale'' grows in sandy areas, where it fruits singly or scattered in a partially buried state. Its
edibility is unknown.
See also
*
List of ''Scleroderma'' species
References
External links
*
Boletales
Fungi described in 1971
Fungi of Europe
Fungi of North America
Puffballs
{{Boletales-stub