Habitat
This puffball typically grows on acidic soils. It is found in diverse environments including heathlands, pastures, old lawns, and both coniferous and mixed forests. It occurs on soil, moss, or forest duff, appearing in small clusters, large groups, or as solitary fruit bodies.
Photos
Appearance
- Fruit body
- Measures 1–4 cm wide and 2–5 cm tall; variety of shapes from nearly spherical to pear-shaped or top-shaped, featuring a distinct, stout, stem-like base.
- Outer surface
- Dark brown to blackish when young, covered in dense, pointed, pyramidal spines or warts that are often fused at the tips. When these spines fall away, they reveal a papery inner surface with a characteristic net-like pattern of scars or depressions.
- Interior
- Flesh is initially white and firm, maturing into a yellowish-olive mush and finally becoming a brown, powdery spore mass. The sterile base is large, spongy, and persistent.
- Spore print
- Yellow-brown to brown.
- Odour
- Varies from indistinct to a strong, unpleasant metallic or gas-like smell.
Sporecast is better in the app
Plan ahead with 10-day forecasts, see what people are finding nearby, get photo IDs, and track your finds.
Edibility
Though likely non-toxic, consumption is generally inadvisable as it may cause significant gastrointestinal distress and pass through the digestive system undigested. While the taste is mild, it has a strong metallic or gas-like smell and should only be eaten while the interior is firm and white. It can be confused with other small puffballs and earthballs, including Lycoperdon umbrinum, Lycoperdon molle, and Apioperdon pyriforme.
Misidentification can be fatal. Never eat a mushroom unless you're 100% sure. This information may be inaccurate. Always consult multiple sources.
Nutrient Source
SaprotrophicIt obtains nutrients by decomposing dead organic matter, such as decaying leaves and wood, in its environment.
Common Names
- Dutch
- Zwartwordende stuifzwam, zwartwordende stuifzwam
- English
- Blackish Puffball, Dusky Puffball
- Finnish
- tummatuhkelo
- German
- Stinkender Stäubling
- Norwegian Bokmål
- mørk vorterøyksopp
- Norwegian Nynorsk
- mørk vorterøyksopp
- Swedish
- mörk röksvamp
- Welsh
- Coden Fwg Dywyll
Synonyms
- Lycoperdon foetans
- Lycoperdon foetidum
- Lycoperdon montanum
- Lycoperdon nigrescens
- Lycoperdon peckii
- Utraria montana