Common Puffball vs Pear-shaped Puffball
Lycoperdon perlatum compared with Lycoperdon pyriforme — how to tell them apart in the field.
How to Tell Them Apart
Also edible, also small. Distinguished by growing on soil or leaf litter (not on wood) and having taller, more prominent spines or "gems" on the surface that leave a distinctive net-like pattern when they fall off. Both are edible when white inside.
Side-by-Side Identification
| Trait | Common Puffball | Pear-shaped Puffball |
|---|---|---|
| Cap | 2-6 cm across, 3-7 cm tall. Pear-shaped to club-shaped (wider on top, tapering to a stem-like base). White when young, aging to yellowish-brown. Surface covered with short conical spines or "gems" (tiny warts) that rub off easily, leaving a faint reticulated pattern underneath. Mature specimens develop an opening (ostiole) at the top where spores puff out. | Not a traditional cap. Fruiting body is 1.5-4 cm wide and 2-5 cm tall, pear-shaped or pestle-shaped: rounded on top, narrowing to a stubby sterile base. Surface covered in tiny granules or short spines when young (pale tan to light brown), wearing smooth with age. Skin becomes papery and develops an apical pore (ostiole) when mature. |
| Gills | No gills. The interior (gleba) is the spore-producing tissue. When young and edible, it's solid white like a marshmallow. As spores mature, the interior turns yellow, then olive-green, then brown and powdery. A mature puffball is basically a bag of spore dust. | None. Puffballs produce spores internally in a mass called the gleba. When young and edible, the gleba is firm and uniformly white. As it matures, the gleba turns yellowish, then olive-brown, and finally becomes a powdery mass of olive-brown spores. |
| Stem | Not a true stem — the lower portion is a sterile base that's more spongy and dense. It persists after the spore mass has dispersed, often seen as empty brown cups on the forest floor in winter. | Not a true stem. The narrow lower portion (subgleba) is sterile, whitish, and spongy. It serves as the attachment point to the wood substrate. White rhizomorphs (cord-like mycelial strands) extend from the base into the wood, a distinctive feature of this species. |
| Spore print | Olive-brown spore mass (not a traditional spore print — you'd collect the spore dust directly). | Olive-brown spore mass released as a puff from the apical pore when the fruiting body is disturbed. |
| Odor | Mild and pleasant when young. Older specimens smell musty or slightly unpleasant. | Mild, slightly earthy or musty. Not distinctive when young. Mature specimens releasing spores may have a slightly acrid or metallic scent. |
| Habitat | Incredibly versatile. Found in deciduous and coniferous forests, grasslands, lawns, parks, garden mulch, gravel paths, and roadsides. Grows on soil, leaf litter, and decaying organic matter. Saprotrophic — feeds on dead plant material rather than forming tree partnerships. | Saprotrophic on decaying wood. Grows in dense clusters on rotting logs, stumps, buried roots, and woody debris in deciduous and mixed forests. The only common puffball that consistently fruits on wood. White rhizomorphs connecting the fruiting bodies to the substrate are a key identification feature. |
| Season | Late summer through late autumn. Peak season is August through November in the Northern Hemisphere. Can appear as early as July after warm rains. | Late summer through autumn, typically August through November. Peak fruiting in September and October in temperate regions. Can appear earlier in wet years. |
Found one of these in the wild? Don't rely on memory — identify it from a photo with Orangutany and check it against both species before you touch it.