Common puffball
Lycoperdon perlatum · 网纹马勃
Common蘑菇科🔥 Edible With Preparation
Sources report it requires expert processing before it can be eaten; cases of poisoning from improper handling have been recorded.
The same species can be described differently across regions and stages of maturity, and countless look-alike species cannot be told apart by eye. Never use the information on this page to judge whether a real mushroom is safe to eat.
How to Tell
- White and pear-shaped, covered in tiny conical spines
- Spines leave a net-like pattern once shed
- An apical pore opens at maturity, puffing brown spores when pressed
ID notes are compiled by AI from public sources, not reviewed by a mycologist, for learning only — never a basis for foraging.
Basics
- Family
- 蘑菇科
- Hymenium
- Gleba
- Grows On
- Leaf Litter
- How Big
- 2–6 cm (overall size)
- Encounter Rate
- Common
- Habitat
- Woodland leaf litter
Easily Confused With
Common earthballCommon puffball has a thin, soft white skin with small spines and a white interior; earthball has a thick, hard yellow-brown skin and purple-black interior.
Giant puffballA large white ball, growing as big as a soccer ballFun Fact
Once mature, a small pore opens at the top; raindrops striking it squeeze out puffs of spores like squeezing a rubber ball — a clever trick for rain-powered dispersal.
More in this family
- Almond mushroom
- Button mushroom
- Deadly dapperling
- Field mushroom
- Flowerpot parasol
- Green-spored parasol
- Horse mushroom
- Parasol mushroom
- Shaggy ink cap
- Shaggy parasol
- Yellow stainer