Puffball id

[warehouseman56]

Hi
Can anyone tell me what this one is? How can you tell? And are there any good websites for fungi beginners? I've got a lot of fungi to identify.





Thanks
Colin

[Stewy]

It looks like a Common Earthball to me, I can't tell you why it just does

Over to the experts.................................

[Fungus Ken]

This is an earthball, the common earthball Scleroderma citrinum I would say.

Scleroderma means "with a toughened skin" and you can see from your second shot that where it is splitting the fungus has a thick rind, much thicker than a puffball. If you cut open an immature puffball it would be white and soft inside, before the spores mature. With the common earthball, before the spores are fully mature you will see that the inside is hard and purplish black. Cutting it open also reveals a very strong and distinctive smell.

Although the increasing number of photos of fungi on the web is a great advance, I couldn't recommend learning to identify mushrooms by comparing them to photos on a website. As a starting point I would suggest a good field guide, preferably one that has some simple keys so you get used to the important characters that separate different groups and species.

But having struggled on like this for many years on my own without much success when I first started looking at fungi, I think by far the better option is to go out with someone more experienced.

Joining your local fungus recording group, if there is one, would be my advice. You might even make some new friends.

Ken

[Stewy]

And there you go.............

[Fungus Ken]

As a follow up, there are introductory keys available on the web, but they often need experience to use and they won't help you to narrow a specimen down to species.

For example, the North West Fungus Group has produced the following key:

Key to Common British Basidiomycetes

but this won't help with gasteromycetes such as puffballs and earthballs.

There is also an online version of MycoKey:

MycoKey home

but this doesn't seem to cover gasteromycetes either.

Once you have narrowed a specimen down, there are keys available online for certain genera eg for Coprinus:

Coprinus (Studies in Coprinus - keys to subsections and species in Coprinus)

but these start to get more complicated and you have to be prepared to use a microscope.

Join a local group, it's a much saner way to learn!

Ken

[warehouseman56]

Earthball eh? Thanks, never heard of them. Just give me a litttle time.
Thank you both, a little information goes a long way.
Colin
Gotta research. Earthball? sounds cool.