Bovista pila

Bovista pila
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Lycoperdaceae
Genus: Bovista
Species:
B. pila
Binomial name
Bovista pila
Berk. & M.A.Curtis (1873)
Synonyms[4]

Bovista pila, commonly known as the tumbling puffball, is a species of puffball fungus in the family Agaricaceae. A temperate species, it is widely distributed in North America, where it grows on the ground on road sides, in pastures, grassy areas, and open woods. There are few well-documented occurrences of B. pila outside North America. B. pila closely resembles the European B. nigrescens, from which it can be reliably distinguished only by microscopic characteristics.

The egg-shaped to spherical puffball of B. pila measures up to 8 cm (3 in) in diameter. Its white outer skin flakes off in age to reveal a shiny, bronze-colored inner skin that encloses a spore sac. The spores are more or less spherical, with short tube-like extensions. The puffballs are initially attached to the ground by a small cord that readily breaks off, leaving the mature puffball to be blown about. Young puffballs are edible while their internal tissue is still white and firm. B. pila puffballs have been used by the Chippewa people of North America as a charm, and as an ethnoveterinary medicine for livestock farming in western Canada.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Saccardo 1882 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ellis 1885 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Morgan 1892 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference urlMycoBank: Bovista pila was invoked but never defined (see the help page).