Puffball Mushroom

Lycoperdon ?

a puffball fungus, Lycoperdaceae, Kenya. Photo © by Michael Plagens

Observed in an area of turf grass near Eldoret, Kenya, July 2014.

From Wikipedia: Lycoperdaceae was a family of approximately 150 fungi now known to lie in the Agaricales. Historically they were placed in their own order Lycoperdales. Members of the Lycoperdaceae family are known as the true puffballs. Unlike other types of fungi that hold spores in gills or teeth, puffballs contain the spores inside a layer of tougher outer skin. When a puffball reaches maturity, the tough skin will split open, allowing the billions of spores to be released.

Lycoperdaceae -- Puffball Mushroom Family

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Kenya Natural History

Copyright Michael J. Plagens. Page created 31 Oct. 2014