Pear-shaped Puffball, Stump Puffball

Habitat

This species is unique among its relatives for fruiting almost exclusively on wood. It grows in dense clusters, swarms, or tufted groups on decaying logs, stumps, and woody debris of both broad-leaved and coniferous trees. While it occasionally appears to be growing from soil or wood chips, it is typically attached to buried wood by prominent white mycelial cords or rhizomorphs. It is found in hardwood, conifer, and mixedwood forests.

Photos

Appearance

Fruit body

1 to 5 cm wide and up to 6 cm tall, typically shaped like an inverted pear, club, or subglobose sphere. It often features a pinched or pleated base area attached to the substrate by conspicuous white mycelial cords or rhizomorphs.

Outer surface

Initially white to creamy beige, maturing to yellowish-brown, tan, or chestnut brown. The texture starts with fine granular warts, scurfy spines, or granules that often wear off to leave a smooth, papery inner wall. It may develop a dark apical 'nipple' or small pore-like opening at the top for spore release.

Interior

Known as the gleba; initially firm and pure white, becoming soft, mushy, and yellow-brown before turning into a powdery, olive-brown spore mass. The sterile base at the bottom is spongy and persistent, filled with small chambers.

Spore print

Olive-brown to dark brown.

Odor

Varyingly described as indistinct, fungal, or a strong gas-like smell.

Edibility

The species is only edible when young, small, and pure white throughout the interior. It becomes inedibly tough before the spores ripen and may cause gastrointestinal illness once the interior begins to turn yellowish or olive. The taste is mild when young, though some specimens have a strong or gasoline-like odor. Lookalikes include Lycoperdon perlatum, which has pyramidal warts, and Lycoperdon subincarnatum.

Nutrient Source

It obtains nutrients by breaking down dead organic matter, such as decaying wood and woody debris.

Common Names

Basque

Astaputz udarekara

Danish

Pære-støvbold

Dutch

Peervormige stuifzwam

English

Pear-shaped Puffball, Stump Puffball

Finnish

ryhmätuhkelo

French

Vesse de loup en poire

German

Birnenstäubling

Norwegian Bokmål

pærerøyksopp

Norwegian Nynorsk

pærerøyksopp

Spanish

Bejín piriforme, Bejin piriforme

Swedish

gyttrad röksvamp

Welsh

Coden Fwg Berffurf

Synonyms

• Lycoperdon betulinum
• Lycoperdon oviforme
• Lycoperdon pyriforme
• Lycoperdon pyriforme — Stump Puffball
• Lycoperdon saccatum
• Lycoperdon serotinum
• Morganella pyriformis
• Utraria pyriformis