Vascellum lloydianum
Bull. mens. Soc. linn. Lyon: 410. 1974.
Common Name: none
Synonym: Lycoperdon lloydianum (A.H. Smith) Jarvis comb. prov.
Misapplied name: Vascellum pratense (Pers.) Kreisel
Fruiting body 30-60 x 20-40 (50) mm broad; turbinate, obovoid to cylindrical, narrowed and pleated towards the base; exoperidium a dense covering of evanescent, whitish to cream-colored, short spines and granules; endoperidium thin, smooth to slightly roughened, white becoming cream to ochraceous-brown, grey-brown to medium-brown in senescent specimens; subgleba prominent, separated from spore case by a thin membrane (diaphragm); subgleba composed of relatively large, whitish cells becoming yellowish to yellowish-olive, maturing brown to purple-brown; spores dispersed via a broad apical opening; odor and taste of immature gleba, mild.
Spores 3-3.5 µm, round, with a minute pedicel, at 1000X finely warted in KOH, appearing spinulose in cotton blue, moderately thick-walled, with a single oil droplet; eucapillitium sparse, located mostly near the endoperidium; paracapillitium common.
Solitary, gregarious, clustered, or in fairy rings in grassy areas; fruiting during the summer months in watered areas and after the fall rains.
Edible when white and immature.
Vascellum lloydianum is one of several small puffballs found in lawns and playing fields. The obovoid to cylindrical fruiting bodies covered with fine white to cream colored, spines and granules, ochre colored endoperidium that develops in age, and broad apical opening are good fieldmarks. Remnants of old specimens, small greyish tan cups, often persist in grass long after the spore case has disintegrated. Vascellum lloydianum often fruits in the company of two other small puffballs: Bovista plumbea and Bovista aestivalis. These can usually be distinguished at a glance by their subglobose shape and lack of a well-developed sterile base (section if in doubt). Vascellum lloydianum is closely related to, and some researchers believe conspecific, with Vascellum pratense. Recent DNA research places the latter within Lycoperdon, where it has been transferred. Vascellum lloydianum, however, has not formally been transferred so we continue to use the name Vascellum here.
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