Pear-shaped Puffball vs Common Earthball
Lycoperdon pyriforme compared with Scleroderma citrinum — how to tell them apart in the field.
This is a dangerous confusion.
At least one of these species is toxic. Never eat a wild mushroom based on a photo comparison alone — verify with local experts.
How to Tell Them Apart
Toxic. Superficially similar in shape and size. Distinguished by the thick, tough, yellowish rind, dark purple-black interior (even when young), and growth on soil rather than wood. Earthballs never have the white interior of an edible puffball.
Side-by-Side Identification
| Trait | Pear-shaped Puffball | Common Earthball |
|---|---|---|
| Cap | 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. | 3-10 cm across, roughly spherical, with no true cap or stem structure. Surface is thick (2-3 mm), tough, and leathery, covered in coarse, irregular warts or scales. Color is dirty yellow to ochre-brown. There is no opening at the top like a true puffball; the skin simply cracks irregularly when mature. |
| Gills | 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. | None. Interior (gleba) is initially firm and marbled purple-black with white veins, becoming powdery dark brown-olive spore mass at maturity. |
| Stem | 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. | No true stem. May have a short, root-like base attaching it to the soil. |
| Spore print | Olive-brown spore mass released as a puff from the apical pore when the fruiting body is disturbed. | Dark brown to olive-brown (released as spore mass when the skin cracks). |
| Odor | Mild, slightly earthy or musty. Not distinctive when young. Mature specimens releasing spores may have a slightly acrid or metallic scent. | Unpleasant; rubbery, metallic, or chemical. Distinctly different from the mild, pleasant smell of edible puffballs. |
| Habitat | 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. | Mycorrhizal with broadleaf and coniferous trees, especially birch, oak, and pine. Found on acidic soils in woodlands, heathlands, parks, and gardens. Often on disturbed ground, along paths, and in gravel areas. Frequently in large groups. |
| Season | Late summer through autumn, typically August through November. Peak fruiting in September and October in temperate regions. Can appear earlier in wet years. | July through November. Most abundant in September and October. |
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.