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February 5, 2009 : Lycoperdon perlatum
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Plant Family / Families: Lycoperdaceae
Scientific Name and Author: Lycoperdon perlatum Pers.
Name Location: The Netherlands
Ruth has written today's entry:
We here at UBC Botanical Garden thank marcella2@Flickr for today's chilly but gorgeous photo (original via BPotD Flickr Pool). Thanks!
How do you locate Michael Kuo of MushroomExpert.com? When walking through the woods, listen for a rendition of Madonna's "Like a Virgin", fungus style:
"Lycoperdon, puffed for the very first time..."
Commonly known as the puffball, Lycoperdon perlatum is found in many places in the northern hemisphere, including (but by no means limited to) the Netherlands (where today's photograph was taken), Poland, and California.
If seen with a white, spiny surface, it is immature as the spines turn brown and rub off easily at maturity. The fallen spines leave dimples on the surface, and the dimples eventually cause perforations. These perforations allow water and wind to distribute the spores. Lycoperdon perlatum can be found along the ground, alone or in clusters, and occasionally on well -decayed wood. Puffballs, like many fungi, are nourished by decaying organic matter.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at February 5, 2009 11:02 PM
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Comments
Posted by: Bonnie at February 6, 2009 3:40 AM
Great find! I would have missed them, in the snow and all. How long are the spines? Do they look "fuzzy" when immature? I learn so much from these daily treats, thank you Daniel and all!
Posted by: Connie at February 6, 2009 5:46 AM
The small wonders under our feet.....
Posted by: Sue Vargas at February 6, 2009 6:28 AM
I know of a "collection" of these (more than a foot in length) that come up among some vine maple roots in the wilderness just beyond my house. They actually seem to be two clusters, one appearing a few days before the second group. I first noticed them three years ago and they have faithfully reappeared each autumn. Watching them mature is a great highlight of my daily walk. Right now they are very depleted looking, rather flattened by the rain in coastal northern California.
Posted by: Emma at February 6, 2009 7:42 AM
puffball! pretty!
Posted by: SoapySophia at February 6, 2009 9:05 AM
Fascinating! I've often read about people (such as indigenous Americans) using the spores from crushed puffballs to help clot blood in wounds, but have never actually seen one before. Thanks!
Posted by: Lynne at February 6, 2009 9:10 AM
Ruth, seeing your Madonna-style lyric makes me feel okay about relating this:
This morning, in that not-awake-but-not-asleep phase, I was thinking about the ball-bouncing rhyme One, two, three O’Leary...ten, O’Leary, postman and trying to think of gardening/botanical substitutes for O’Leary and postman, but couldn’t come up with anything!
Posted by: Debby at February 6, 2009 10:14 AM
fine posting -thank you
Posted by: elizabeth a airhart at February 6, 2009 3:46 PM
What beautiful textures to this image! It's been so dry here all I've been able to find are brackets and dried remains of these...wonderful to see more fungi here on the BPD, Daniel!
Posted by: C.Wick at February 6, 2009 7:23 PM
Please share your comments about the photograph(s) and accompanying write-up. Telling a story about the subject of the photograph(s) is also much appreciated! If you have a gardening question, the best place to ask is on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Thank you!
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Botany Photo of the Day is a project of the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research, located in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. UBC BGCPR is a department of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems within The University of British Columbia.
At first glance, they looked like caviar, highly magnified! Gorgeous!