Gem-Studded Puffball

Lycoperdon perlatum

Edible when pure white inside

Also called common puffball, warted puffball, devil's snuffbox.

The gem-studded puffball is a small white puffball shaped like an upside-down pear, studded with tiny cone-shaped spines. It grows on the ground in woods and along trails from summer through fall, and puffs out brown spores through a hole in the top when mature.

A pale, club-shaped gem-studded puffball with a bumpy surface, with a smaller one beside it, in leaf litter

The tell

A small white, top-shaped puffball covered in cone-shaped spines that rub off and leave a net of tiny scars.

Field marks

What to look at

Cap, underside and stem show in a photo. The spore print does not, and it is often the deciding check.

Cap
No separate cap. The fruiting body is round on top and narrows into a thick stem-like base. White to cream, browning with age, and covered in short cone-shaped spines surrounded by smaller granules. The spines rub off and leave a net-like pattern of scars.
Underside
None. The spores form inside, and a pore opens at the top at maturity.
Stem
A thick, stem-like sterile base that is part of the puffball, not a true stem. No ring and no cup.
Flesh
Firm and pure white when young, turning yellowish, then olive-brown and powdery as the spores mature. The base stays spongy.
Spore print
Not taken; the mature spore mass is olive-brown.
Size
1 to 2.5 inches wide (2.5 to 6 cm) and 1.5 to 3 inches tall (4 to 7.5 cm).

Where and when

Where and when it grows

Habitat
Woods, trail edges, roadsides, clearings and grassy areas, alone, scattered or in clusters.
Grows on
Soil, leaf litter and occasionally well-rotted wood.
Season
Summer through fall.
Range
Widespread across North America.

Lookalikes

What the gem-studded puffball gets confused with

Each card says how to tell the two apart.

  1. Compare side by side

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Edibility

What the field guides say

Edible when pure white inside

Field guides list the gem-studded puffball as edible only while the interior is firm and pure white. Once the flesh yellows or browns, guides record digestive upset. The main danger is confusion with young Amanita buttons, which contain amatoxins, and with earthballs, which are poisonous; cutting each in half from top to bottom shows the differences.

This page states what field guides record. It is not advice to eat, taste or handle anything, and a photo cannot settle edibility. If someone has eaten a wild mushroom that may be toxic, call poison control (1-800-222-1222 in the US) right away, before symptoms start: the deadliest species act hours later.

FAQ

Questions about the gem-studded puffball

Are gem-studded puffballs edible?

Field guides list them as edible while the inside is solid and pure white. Older puffballs that have turned yellow or brown inside are past that stage. The confusions that matter are with young Amanita eggs and with earthballs.

What are the spikes on a puffball?

The gem-studded puffball is covered in tiny cone-shaped spines with smaller granules between them. They rub off easily and leave a pattern of round scars like a net on the surface.

Why does a puffball puff smoke?

When mature, the inside of the puffball turns into a mass of olive-brown spores, and a hole opens at the top. Raindrops or a touch press the skin and push out a cloud of spores.

Sources

Where these facts come from

  1. Lycoperdon perlatum

    MushroomExpert.com

  2. Lycoperdon perlatum

    Fungi Growing on Wood, Gary Emberger (MushroomExpert.com)

  3. Gem-Studded Puffball

    Missouri Department of Conservation

  4. Lycoperdon perlatum

    Index Fungorum

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