Bovista plumbea Pers. ex Pers. Bleigrauer Zwergbovist, Boviste couleur de plomb, Grey Puffball Fruit body 2–3cm across, subglobose without a sterile base but attached to the substrate by a clump of fibres which often break leaving the fruit body free to roll about in the wind, outer wall white at first flaking off in large scales at maturity to expose the lead-coloured fragile inner layer enclosing the spore mass and opening by a circular pore. Gleba clay to olive-brown. Capillitium of highly branched brown dendroid elements. Spores brown, oval with a long pedicel and finely roughened, 4.5–6 x 4.5–5.5µ. Habitat amongst short grass on lawns, golf-courses and pasture. Season late summer to late autumn. Occasional. Edible when young. Found In Europe. |