Pepper Pot Myriostoma coliforme (With.) Corda syn. Geastrum coliformis (With.) Pers. (illustrated 55% life size) Fruit body opening to 2–10cm across, globose; outer wall covered in a brown, fleshy layer which soon wears off; under-layer pale buff, splitting into 5–12 pointed rays which curve back slightly, raising the spore sac. Spore sac 1.5–5cm across, minutely roughened, opening by several pores to resemble a pepper-pot, supported by several slender columns; silvery-brown. Spores 4–6¼ in diameter, globose, irregularly warted. Spore mass brown. Habitat in sandy soil in fields or wood edges; late summer to autumn. Found regularly in the Channel Islands, but apparently extinct in mainland Britain, extinct on Red Data List; the large specimen is from a collection made near Hillingdon in Norfolk in 1880. Not edible.
