Australian Eucalypts

Family: Lycoperdaceae

Scientific name: Lycoperdon pyriforme

Common Name: Puffball, Wolf fart puffball

Distribution: QLD, NSW, VIC, SA, TAS

General Information: Found in wet eucalypt forest/rainforest, pear/pyramidal shaped, light brown fuzzy, well defined opening. Saprotrophic.

The powdery spores of L. pyriforme have been used to heal wounds in some cultures due to its anti-coagulation properties. L.pyriforme is edible - inside of puffball will have no internal structures and it will be white and marshmellow like. Like, the giant puffballs, Lycoperdon pyriforme and its relatives are edible if you find them early enough, before the white gleba turns yellow, then green then brown.

Specimen: Sleeping Beauty walk, Mountain River, Tasmania, 2009.

Sources:

Fuhrer, B 2005, A Field Guide To Australian Fungi, Bloomings Books, Melbourne.

McCann, I 2003, Australian Fungi Illustrated, Macdown Productions, Vermont.

Volk, T (PhD), 2001,This month's fungus is Lycoperdon pyriforme, the wolf-fart puffball, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/2011/wojcik_kyle/cool%20stuff.htm

C Corymbia "Summer Red"