page_title: Lycoperdon perlatum
section_title: Ecology and distribution
hierarchical_section_title: Lycoperdon perlatum / Ecology and distribution
caption_attribution_description: English: Fruit bodies of the common puffball mushroom Lycoperdon perlatum Pers. Photographed in Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania, USA.
context_page_description: Lycoperdon perlatum, popularly known as the common puffball, warted puffball, gem-studded puffball, wolf farts or the devil's snuff-box, is a species of puffball fungus in the family Agaricaceae. 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. It is edible when young and the internal flesh is completely white, although care must be taken to avoid confusion with immature fruit bodies of poisonous Amanita species. L. perlatum can usually be distinguished from other similar puffballs by differences in surface texture.
context_section_description: A saprobic species, Lycoperdon perlatum grows solitarily, scattered, or in groups or clusters on the ground. It can also grow in fairy rings. Typical habitats include woods, grassy areas, and along roads. It has been reported from Pinus patula plantations in Tamil Nadu, India. The puffball sometimes confuses golfers because of its resemblance to a golf ball when viewed from a distance.
  A widespread species with an almost cosmopolitan distribution, it has been reported from Africa (Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania), Asia (China, Himalayas, Japan, southern India), Australia, Europe, New Zealand, and South America (Brazil). It has been collected from subarctic areas of Greenland, and subalpine regions in Iceland. In North America, where it is considered the most common puffball species, it ranges from Alaska to Mexico, although it is less common in Central America. The species is popular on postage stamps, and has been depicted on stamps from Guinea, Paraguay, Romania, Sierra Leone, and Sweden.
  The puffball bioaccumulates heavy metals present in the soil, and can be used as a bioindicator of soil pollution by heavy metals and selenium. In one 1977 study, samples collected from grassy areas near the side of an interstate highway in Connecticut were shown to have high concentrations of cadmium and lead. L. perlatum biomass has been shown experimentally to remove mercury ions from aqueous solutions, and is being investigated for potential use as a low-cost, renewable, biosorptive material in the treatment of water and wastewater containing mercury.
caption: Fruit bodies may grow singly, scattered, in groups, or—as shown here—in clusters.
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