puffball

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puffball

puffball or smokeball, fungus in which the aboveground portion is typically a stemless brownish sac with an opening at the top through which issues the dustlike mass of ripe spores. The common puffball is Lycoperdon gemmatum. The giant puffball ( L. giganteum ) may reach a diameter of 1 ft (30 cm) or more. No puffballs are poisonous, and most forms are edible when young. They are related to the mushroom and are similar in flavor. Puffballs are classified in the kingdom Fungi , phylum (division) Basidiomycota.

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puffball

A Dictionary of Plant Sciences | 1998 | | Â© A Dictionary of Plant Sciences 1998, originally published by Oxford University Press 1998. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

puffball The common name for the fruit body formed by some fungi of the Gasteromycetes. Puffballs are more or less spherical, and the spores that develop inside them are released through pores or cracks in the peridium. The giant puffball is Calvatia gigantea.

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