Appearance
Like all puffballs, ''Handkea excipuliformis'' has a gasteroid basidiocarp, meaning the spores are produced internally, and are only released as the mature fruiting body ages and dries, or is broken. Young puffballs are typically 6 to 12 centimetres across, white, or pale grey-brown; in maturity it may attain dimensions of 15 centimetres broad by 25 centimetres tall. The underside of the puffball is attached to the ground by a root-like assemblage of hyphae called a rhizomorph. This fungus comprises two parts. The upper, globe-like section, which is white at first and turns ochre as it ages, is initially covered in soft, pointed warts; these fall off to leave a smooth, matt surface. Inside this rounded head the spores develop. The brown spores are released into the air; this process is often hastened by rain, or by being trodden on by cattle. Eventually, all that remains is the sterile pestle-shaped base.The stipe expands once the head has ruptured and released the spores and then remain intact throughout the winter and into the following summer. It is parallel or slightly tapering in at the base; spongy; surface soon becoming wrinkled; initially white with pointed warts, but later turning ochre and becoming smooth and leathery.
Naming
Handkea perlatum is much smaller, has a shorter stipe, and retains a mesh-like pattern when the warts are rubbed off the cap.
Distribution
Common and widespread from late summer until autumn. The pestle puffball Grows singly or in small groups in humus soil in both coniferous and broadleaf woodland and on short grassland. Frequent beneath hedges, on wasteland and in all kinds of woods; particularly common on the edges of woodland clearings.
Habitat
Common and widespread from late summer until autumn. The pestle puffball Grows singly or in small groups in humus soil in both coniferous and broadleaf woodland and on short grassland. Frequent beneath hedges, on wasteland and in all kinds of woods; particularly common on the edges of woodland clearings.References:
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