Fungi › puffballs

Elephant-skin Puffball

Calvatia pachyderma

Easily confused with

Study checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.

Where it is recorded

Records by month in California.January 10, February 9, March 9, April 36, May 16, June 8, July 7, August 7, September 9, October 9, November 12, December 9.
United States126
California112
Mexico4
Baja California4
Idaho2
Washington2
Spain2
South Dakota1
Colorado1
Utah1

Counts show where people looked, not only where it lives.

Traits

Ecological

  • DecomposerBreaks down dead organic matter, recycling nutrientsFrom its classification

Group and habits

  • Puffball fungus formDescends from a fungal lineage whose members are typically puffballs.Inferred from its group

Classification

KingdomFungi Including Lichens · Fungi
PhylumBasidiomycete Fungi · Basidiomycota
ClassMushrooms, Bracket Fungi, Puffballs, and Allies · Agaricomycetes
OrderCommon Gilled Mushrooms and Allies · Agaricales
Familypuffballs · Lycoperdaceae
GenusCalvatia

Sources

Remember the name next time.

Practise Elephant-skin Puffball with real photos from different observers. Say the name out loud, and it comes back just before you would forget it.