#stump puffball

[michaelnordeman]

Green-staining Coral/Phaeoclavulina abietina/blånande fingersvamp, Golden Chanterelle/Cantharellus cibarius/kantarell, Funeral Bell/Galerina marginata/gifthätting, and Stump Puffball/Lycoperdon pyriforme/gyttrad röksvamp. Värmland, Sweden (October 5, 2021 and 2025).

[vandaliatraveler]

Friendship Hill National Historic Site protects the sprawling estate of Albert Gallatin, one of our nation's founding fathers, who served as the Secretary of the Treasury in the Jefferson and Madison administrations. On certain cold, overcast fall afternoons, when you have the miles of trails and old woods mostly to yourself, with only a capricious breeze to stir up the leaves at your heels, the place takes on an otherworldly vibe, as if the stalking ghosts of history might peak out at you from behind a dusty window or rise up from a gnarly stump. Indeed, Gallatin's young bride, Sophia, died within a year after the couple moved to the estate; distraught and grieving, Gallatin buried her on a bluff overlooking the Monongahela River. Although her body was rumored to have been reinterred some years later in a stone grave along one of the trails (4th and 5th photos above), it was never officially recovered. Just keep moving if you hear the leaves rustling behind you. :-) On the other hand, if restless spirits aren't your thing, the estate's old woods host bomb fungi in the autumn, including pear-shaped puffballs (Apioperdon pyriforme) and artist's conk (Ganoderma applanatum).

[lindagoesmushrooming]

Lycoperdon pyriforme aka stump puffball

[mushroomgay]

Abernethy Forest, Scotland, August 2023

Stump puffball (Lycoperdon pyriforme)

Slugs snacking on this puffball that, like other puffballs, is edible to humans too! They're not very desirable though, unlike others in the family, but the slugs seem to enjoy them.

[shroomingne]

Apioperdon pyriforme | Stump Puffball

Fall to winter Edible 

The Stump Puffball is like a tiny version of the puffballs you might see growing in your lawn.  It likes to grow on rotting wood, particularly that of deciduous trees.  Each ball is between about 1 and 2.5 inches wide.  These guys were maybe an inch each.  Obviously they’ve already gone to spore since it’s past their season, but when they’re actively growing they should be shaped roughly like an inverted pear and have a smoothish tan to light brown skin.  They’re supposedly edible when young and still white and firm on the inside, but not particularly sought after.

Bonus closeup for more details!

[vandaliatraveler]

Pear-shaped puffballs (Apioperdon pyriforme) huddle in the moss in the late October woods. The central pores of some of the puffballs in this cluster have already begun to rupture and will soon release their spores.

[lindagoesmushrooming]

Lycoperdon pyriforme | Pear-shaped puffball aka Stump puffball

[mushroomgay]

Barnet, London, UK, October 2019

Stump puffball (Lycoperdon pyriforme)

These stump puffballs are just coming to maturity - they start off pure white and covered in warts, slowly turning brown with a darker spot at the top of the head, which will open up to release the mature spores. 

These fungi are edible at this stage, until they turn a darker brown, at which point they become bitter and unpleasant. I’ve not seen them around before, though, and since they were such a small bunch and my bag was already full of oysters I decided to leave them.