Bovista plumbea, commonly known as the tumbling puffball, tumbleball, or paltry puffball,Bovista plumbea is a small puffball mushroom. It is white when young and greyish in age. Easily confused with immature Bovista dermoxantha, it is attached to the substrate by a tuft of mycelium. It is commonly found in Western Europe and California.
Synonyms Obsolete synonyms for B. plumbea include: Bovista ovalispora Cooke & Massee 1887 Bovista plumbea Pers. 1796 Bovista plumbea var. ovalispora (Cooke & Massee) F. Šmarda 1958 Calvatia bovista (L.) Pers. 1896 Lycoperdon bovista Sowerby 1803 Lycoperdon plumbeum Vittad. 1842
Description The fruiting body of the sporocarp is broad, attached to the substrate by a tuft of mycelium, and spherical to slightly compressed.Smith, A.H. (1951). Puffballs and Their Allies in Michigan. University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, MI. 131 p. The exoperidium is white, becoming buff to pale-tan and minutely tomentose, and sometimes areolate.Kreisel, H. (1967). Taxonomisch-Pflanzengeographische Monographie Der Gattung Bovista. J. Cramer: Lehre. 244 p. It eventually flakes away, or peels off in sheets, the latter occurring at maturation in hot, dry conditions. In contrast, the endoperidium membranes are lead-grey, with or without adhering fragments of exoperidium.
Spores The spores are 5.0–6.5 x 4.0–5.5 μm, ovoid, thick-walled, and nearly smooth, with a central oil droplet, and a 7.5–11.5 μm pedicel. The capillitium is composed of individual elements, rather than interwoven, main branches thick-walled, flexuous, rapidly tapering, forking more or less dichotomously, ochre-colored in KOH.
The spores are released via a small apical pore. The gleba is white, turning dingy yellowish, olive-brown, finally dark-brown and firm-textured. However, the subgleba and sterile base are usually absent. Fruiting occurs throughout the mushroom season.Calonge, F.D. (1998). Flora Mycologica Iberica. Vol. 3. Gasteromycetes, I. Lycoperdales, Nidulariales, Phallales, Sclerodermatales, Tulostomatales. J. Cramer: Berlin, Germany. 271 p.
Distribution and habitat It is commonly found in Western Europe and California.Species: Bovista plumbea Pers. 1795
It often lives in scattered to clustered in disturbed areas, especially in sparse grass.
Uses The young globes can be halved and cooked, but are bland and too insubstantial to be of much interest.
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