What’s purple or brown, comes out of the ground, and releases millions of powdery spores in a puff when you squeeze it? The Puffball, also called Dead Man’s Foot, is a type of fungus in the Basidiomycota phylum. The “puffball” is actually the basidiocarp, a structure that produces reproductive spores inside. As the spores mature, the basidiocarp becomes brittle and develops cracks. The brown “puffs” we see when we squeeze the basidiocarp are the mature spores being released into the air. If these spores land in a moist environment with suitable nutrients, a new Puffball fungus will grow. In this picture, Dennis Sheridan is holding a Puffball in the genus Lycoperdon.
