Bovista nigrescens, commonly referred to as the brown puffball or black bovist, is an edible cream white or brown puffball

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...

 mushroom. Phylogenetic relationships between Bovista nigrescens and species of Lycoperdaceae

Lycoperdaceae

Lycoperdaceae is a family of approximately 150 fungi now known to lie in the Agaricales. Historically they were placed in their own order Lycoperdales. Members of the Lycoperdaceae family are known as the true puffballs. Unlike other types of fungi that hold spores in gills or teeth, puffballs...

 were established based on ITS

Internal transcribed spacer

ITS refers to a piece of non-functional RNA situated between structural ribosomal RNAs on a common precursor transcript. Read from 5' to 3', this polycistronic rRNA precursor transcript contains the 5' external transcribed sequence , 18S rRNA, ITS1, 5.8S rRNA, ITS2, 28S rRNA and finally the 3'ETS...

 and LSU sequence data from north European taxa.

Description

The fruiting body of Bovista nigrescens is 3–6 cm across. The roughly spherical fruiting body is slightly pointed at the bottom. Although it lacks a sterile base, the fruiting body is attached to the substrate by a single 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...

 which often breaks, leaving the fruit body free to roll about in the wind. The outer wall is white at first, but soon flakes off in large scales at maturity

Sexual maturity

Sexual maturity is the age or stage when an organism can reproduce. It is sometimes considered synonymous with adulthood, though the two are distinct...

 to expose the dark purple-brown to blackish inner wall that encloses the spore mass

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...

. These spores leave via an apical pore, which is caused by extensive splitting and cracking. 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 often dark purple-brown. In addition, the capillitium is highly branched with brown dendroid elements. 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 are brown and ovoid, with a diameter of 4.5–6 µm

Micrometre

A micrometer , is by definition 1×10-6 of a meter .In plain English, it means one-millionth of a meter . Its unit symbol in the International System of Units is μm...

. They are thick-walled, and nearly smooth, with a central oil droplet

Oil body

An oil body is a lipid-containing structure found in plant cells. The term can refer to at least two distinct kinds of structures in different kinds of plants.-Oil bodies in liverworts:...

, and a long, warted pedicel.

Habitat and distribution

Bovista nigrescens are often found in grass and pastureland. Although they are found most abundantly in late summer to autumn, they persist in old dried condition for many months. They are uncommon in most areas, but frequent in North and West Europe. They are edible when young. In addition, they are found on the ground, fields, lawns or on roadsides. Typically, they may be found at an altitude of up to 2,500 meters (8,202 feet).