Garden Fungi – Lycoperdon pyriforme

 
Grows on WOOD.
 
Puff Balls are a large and quite variable group. Some have a soft skin, some have a hard or tough skin, some have a stem that provides extra height so that the spores are expelled further. Some Puff Balls can be quite big.
 
Fruit-body: Like a small, white ball. Usually the juvenile has rough projections that disappear as it ages, so it becomes a smooth, darkening ball with a small opening at the apex. If you cut them in half when young, they have a white flesh. At maturity any pressure on the ball, such as being hit by a rain drop, causes a puff of spores to be expelled. This is what gives them their name.
 
Stem: In these small white to off-white Puff Balls, the stem is very small to non-existent.
 
Smell: None.
 
Habit: Usually in clusters on decaying stumps or logs, occasionally occurring on the ground amongst decaying wood chips.
 
Notes: The small, white, soft-skinned Puff Balls are most commonly seen in gardens and street verges.