About this fungus
Peeling Puffball is a fungus in the Agaricaceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A small white spiny puffball whose outer coat characteristically lifts and peels away in patches, exposing a smoother brown to olive-brown inner skin.
What to check
Check that the spines detach in plates or chunks rather than one by one. A complete lengthwise section of a young fruitbody should be uniform inside, with no outline of a cap, gills or stem. Any internal mushroom structure rules out a true puffball and can indicate a dangerous Amanita egg.
Variation
Young fruitbodies are white and densely spiny. As they mature, the outer coat peels, the inner skin becomes olive-brown and the interior changes from white to olive-brown spore powder.
Lookalikes
Other spiny Lycoperdon species usually lose their spines individually. Immature Amanita species can look puffball-like externally but reveal a developing mushroom when sectioned.
Habitat and range
Saprotrophic on soil in hardwood or conifer woodland, roadsides, verges and other open ground, especially in North America.
Food safety
Inedible.