Grassland Puffball

Grassland Puffball Lycoperdon lividum Pers. syn. L. spadiceum Pers. (illustrated 70% life size) Fruit body 1–2.5cm across, subglobose, pinched into a short stem; greyish- to ochre-brown; outer layer scurfy, inner wall thin and granular, opening by a small, irregular pore. Gleba finally olive-brown; sterile base occupying up to a third of the volume of the fruit body; whitish at first then yellowing, finally brownish; spongy, of rather large cells. Spores 4¼ in diameter, globose, minutely warted; olive-brown. Habitat on heaths, pasture, dunes, and waste ground on sandy soil; autumn. Frequent in coastal areas. Unknown edibility.