Bovista dermoxantha
Encyclopedia
Bovista dermoxantha is a small, white, nearly round puffball
, recognized when young by a cottony-felty outer surface that becomes inconspicuously warted, eventually leaving fine, pallid, scales on an ochre to brown endoperidium. Bovista plumbea
is similar, but has a smoother surface when young, and lacks a basal mycelial cord
. In age it is distinguished by a dull greyish endoperidium. Large specimens of Bovista dermoxantha may also be mistaken for Bovista pila. Both have a mycelial cord attachment to the substrate, but Bovista pila differs in releasing spore
s through tears or splits in the endoperidium rather than by an apical pore.
s or low wart
s on the endoperidium, which consists of a thin, membranous, ochre-brown
to medium-brown layer, opening via a ragged apical pore. The gleba
is soft, white, and becomes yellowish-olive
to olive-brown
, and finally to medium-brown at maturity. The subgleba and sterile
base are absent. It has an undistinctive odor
and taste
. Although they are small, they are too small to be considered for an ordinary meal.
s are 3.5-4.5 µm
in diameter, globose, thick-walled, and smooth to faintly warted. In addition, they have a central oil droplet and stub-like pedicel, and a sparsely branched thin capillitium. The pits are variable, consisting of absent to abundant.
As with most Bovista
, the spore release through the small apical pore.
and fruit
body emergence in summer
in three fairy ring
pathogens of basidiomycetes, Bovista dermoxantha, Vascellum curtisii and Conocybe lactea, on turf was examined using the method developed to predict the timing of emergence in pest insects. The number of fruit bodies at the turf study site in Chiba
, Japan
, was recorded together with average temperature
at the weather station from 1999 to 2003. The lower theoretical developmental thresholds (the developmental zeros) for mycelial growth in B. dermoxantha, V. curtisii and C. lactea were estimated to be 14.6.DEG.C., 17.0.DEG.C. and 8.8.DEG.C., respectively, based on the linear relationships observed in the temperature ranges 5-35.DEG.C. The cumulative effect of average daily temperatures that exceeded the developmental zeros required for each fungus (total effective temperature) was assessed. The probit
s of the percentage of total fruit bodies against the total that emerged over the five-year period of the study correlated with the total effective temperature to give a ratio of contribution exceeded near 0.6. Similar correlations were also found between probits obtained from daily recordings of fruit body numbers in the observation plots under 170 m2 and total effective temperature. The observations of development in B. dermoxantha and C. lactea revealed that the average diameter and fruiting period of the fruit bodies was 11.5 mm and 5.8 days, and the average height and fruiting period were 36.8 mm and 1.8 days, respectively. One of the characteristics for these fungi is that they are short-lived.
Puffball
A puffball is a member of any of several groups of fungus in the division Basidiomycota. The puffballs were previously treated as a taxonomic group called the Gasteromycetes or Gasteromycetidae, but they are now known to be a polyphyletic assemblage. The distinguishing feature of all puffballs is...
, recognized when young by a cottony-felty outer surface that becomes inconspicuously warted, eventually leaving fine, pallid, scales on an ochre to brown endoperidium. Bovista plumbea
Bovista plumbea
Bovista plumbea, also referred to as the paltry puffball, is a small puffball mushroom commonly found in Western Europe and California, white when young and greyish in age...
is similar, but has a smoother surface when young, and lacks a basal mycelial cord
Mycelial cord
Mycelial cords are linear aggregations of parallel-oriented hyphae. The mature cords are composed of wide, empty vessel hyphae surrounded by narrower sheathing hyphae...
. In age it is distinguished by a dull greyish endoperidium. Large specimens of Bovista dermoxantha may also be mistaken for Bovista pila. Both have a mycelial cord attachment to the substrate, but Bovista pila differs in releasing spore
Spore
In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many bacteria, plants, algae, fungi and some protozoa. According to scientist Dr...
s through tears or splits in the endoperidium rather than by an apical pore.
Description
The fruiting body of the sporocarp is 1.5-3.0 (4.0) cm broad, subglobose, and attached to the substrate by a white mycelial cord. The exoperidium, which is white, felty, and shrivels in age, leaving buff to light-brown, grows up to 1.0 mm thick. There are furfuraceous scaleScale (zoology)
In most biological nomenclature, a scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration...
s or low wart
Wart
A wart is generally a small, rough growth, typically on a human’s hands or feet but often other locations, that can resemble a cauliflower or a solid blister. They are caused by a viral infection, specifically by human papillomavirus 2 and 7. There are as many as 10 varieties of warts, the most...
s on the endoperidium, which consists of a thin, membranous, ochre-brown
Brown
Brown is a color term, denoting a range of composite colors produced by a mixture of orange, red, rose, or yellow with black or gray. The term is from Old English brún, in origin for any dusky or dark shade of color....
to medium-brown layer, opening via a ragged apical pore. The gleba
Gleba
Gleba is the fleshy spore-bearing inner mass of fungi such as the puffball or stinkhorn.The gleba is a solid mass of spores, generated within an enclosed area within the sporocarp. The continuous maturity of the sporogenous cells leave the spores behind as a powdery mass that can be easily blown away...
is soft, white, and becomes yellowish-olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
to olive-brown
Brown
Brown is a color term, denoting a range of composite colors produced by a mixture of orange, red, rose, or yellow with black or gray. The term is from Old English brún, in origin for any dusky or dark shade of color....
, and finally to medium-brown at maturity. The subgleba and sterile
Sterility (physiology)
Sterility is the physiological inability to effect sexual reproduction in a living thing, members of whose kind have been produced sexually. The term may be used in reference to* types of organism, such as the mule, a sterile hybrid;...
base are absent. It has an undistinctive odor
Odor
An odor or odour is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds, generally at a very low concentration, that humans or other animals perceive by the sense of olfaction. Odors are also commonly called scents, which can refer to both pleasant and unpleasant odors...
and taste
Taste
Taste is one of the traditional five senses. It refers to the ability to detect the flavor of substances such as food, certain minerals, and poisons, etc....
. Although they are small, they are too small to be considered for an ordinary meal.
Habitat
The Bovista dermoxantha is solitary, scattered, and clustered on disturbed ground. For example, they can be found on pastures, playing fields, edges of woods, roads, and paths. At low elevations, they are widely distributed, and fruit during the summer in watered areas and throughout the mushroom season. Though they are common, they are inconspicuous and easily overlooked.Spores
SporeSpore
In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many bacteria, plants, algae, fungi and some protozoa. According to scientist Dr...
s are 3.5-4.5 µm
Micrometer
A micrometer , sometimes known as a micrometer screw gauge, is a device incorporating a calibrated screw used widely for precise measurement of small distances in mechanical engineering and machining as well as most mechanical trades, along with other metrological instruments such as dial, vernier,...
in diameter, globose, thick-walled, and smooth to faintly warted. In addition, they have a central oil droplet and stub-like pedicel, and a sparsely branched thin capillitium. The pits are variable, consisting of absent to abundant.
As with most Bovista
Bovista
Bovista is a genus of fungi in the family Agaricaceae, commonly known as the true puffballs. It was formerly classified within the now-obsolete order Lycoperdales, which, following a restructuring of fungal taxonomy brought about by molecular phylogeny, has been split; the species of Bovista are...
, the spore release through the small apical pore.
Synonyms
- Lycoperdon dermoxantha Vittidini
- Bovista pusilla (Batsch: Persoon) Persoon nomen ambiguum
- Lycoperdon pusillum Batsch sensu auct.
Observations
The relationship between temperatureTemperature
Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...
and fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
body emergence in summer
Summer
Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice...
in three fairy ring
Fairy ring
A fairy ring, also known as fairy circle, elf circle, elf ring or pixie ring, is a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms. The rings may grow to over in diameter, and they become stable over time as the fungus grows and seeks food underground. They are found mainly in forested areas, but...
pathogens of basidiomycetes, Bovista dermoxantha, Vascellum curtisii and Conocybe lactea, on turf was examined using the method developed to predict the timing of emergence in pest insects. The number of fruit bodies at the turf study site in Chiba
Chiba, Chiba
is the capital city of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is located approximately 40 km east of the center of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay. Chiba City became a government designated city in 1992. Its population as of 2008 is approximately 960,000....
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, was recorded together with average temperature
Temperature
Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...
at the weather station from 1999 to 2003. The lower theoretical developmental thresholds (the developmental zeros) for mycelial growth in B. dermoxantha, V. curtisii and C. lactea were estimated to be 14.6.DEG.C., 17.0.DEG.C. and 8.8.DEG.C., respectively, based on the linear relationships observed in the temperature ranges 5-35.DEG.C. The cumulative effect of average daily temperatures that exceeded the developmental zeros required for each fungus (total effective temperature) was assessed. The probit
Probit
In probability theory and statistics, the probit function is the inverse cumulative distribution function , or quantile function associated with the standard normal distribution...
s of the percentage of total fruit bodies against the total that emerged over the five-year period of the study correlated with the total effective temperature to give a ratio of contribution exceeded near 0.6. Similar correlations were also found between probits obtained from daily recordings of fruit body numbers in the observation plots under 170 m2 and total effective temperature. The observations of development in B. dermoxantha and C. lactea revealed that the average diameter and fruiting period of the fruit bodies was 11.5 mm and 5.8 days, and the average height and fruiting period were 36.8 mm and 1.8 days, respectively. One of the characteristics for these fungi is that they are short-lived.