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In St. Louis County, this species is mostly found in late summer, early fall, on wide grassy open lawns and pastures. They grow to large size and have a conspicuous "pear-like" shape. When sectioned in half, the bottom half (above the stem), is clearly seen as a sterile cup-like structure with few or no spores. It is clearly separated from C. craniformis by the rich purple color of the abundant spores.
The fresh mushroom is white inside and I have eaten it fried in batter like French toast.
The mature specimens over-winter and produce dense clouds of rich purple-colored spores when stepped upon.
The spores are round and have a distinct covering of abundant spikes all over the globular surface.
This puffball has appeared in my back yard in Sept./Oct. beginning in 2004. 2005 was a peak year for it, producing a record number (about 29) specimens arranged in what appeared to be a semi-Fairy Ring arc measuring about 20 ft. in length.
2007 produced only two specimens. It was an extremely dry, hot summer. Those two appeared only three days after the only rain we had.
In 2005, one large specimen was somehow severed half-way through across the mid-section of the top. It continued to grow for a few weeks, and resembled a comode with the seat-cover half-opened..
A.k.a. Cup-shaped puffball, pasture puffball, vase puffball, purple-spored puffball. |
