Names, authorship and dates from Index Fungorum.

• BasidiomycotaPhylum
• └─ AgaricomycetesClass
• └─ AgaricalesOrder
• └─ LycoperdaceaeFamily
• └─ LycoperdonGenus

Higher ranks from Catalogue of Life (COL26.9 XR).

Lifestylesaprobiont

Conservation statusleast concern

Forest clearings and trails, on soil among leaf litter and moss

⚠ Before you pickWild fungi may be taken in small quantities for your own use (§39(3) BNatSchG) — but not in nature reserves or national parks, on closed land or on farmland in use, and never for sale (§39(4)). In Bavaria this right is anchored in Art. 141(3) of the state constitution and is limited to locally customary amounts; the competent authority is the district nature-conservation authority (untere Naturschutzbehörde). Local signs and ordinances come first.

Species protection from BArtSchV Annex 1 and §2(1), retrieved 2026-10-15; Red List from Dämmrich et al. (2016) (BfN / Rote-Liste-Zentrum). Not legal advice — local rules and signage may be stricter. BArtSchV Annex 1 · Red List data

• edible mushroom
• medicinal mushrooms

Edible when young and still pure white inside (must be firm throughout)

• ▸ Round, pear-like fruit body covered in small pointed warts/spines
• ▸ White when young, turning tan/brownish with age
• ▸ Small opening (pore) at the top through which spores are released as a puff of dust

The warts form a characteristic mosaic pattern on the cap. When ripe, tapping the puffball releases a cloud of olive-brown spores through the apical pore.