ajaxloader

Lycoperdon perlatum · karpotasis pumpotaukšlis

EN · common puffball, warted puffball, gem-studded puffball, wolf farts, devil's snuff-box DE · Flaschen-Stäubling LT · karpotasis pumpotaukšlis LV · kārpainais pūpēdis PL · purchawka chropowata

A widespread species with a cosmopolitan distribution, it is a medium-sized puffball with a round fruit body tapering to a wide stalk, and dimensions of 1.5 to 6 cm wide by 3 to 10 cm tall. It is off-white with a top covered in short spiny bumps or "jewels", which are easily rubbed off to leave a netlike pattern on the surface. When mature it becomes brown, and a hole in the top opens to release spores in a burst when the body is compressed by touch or falling raindrops.

The puffball grows in fields, gardens, and along roadsides, as well as in grassy clearings in woods. Lycoperdon perlatum is considered to be a good edible mushroom when young, when the gleba is still homogeneous and white.