Common Earthball Scleroderma citrinum Persoon    Synonyms: Pigskin Poison Puffball, Pigskin Puffball.
Kingdom Fungi   >   Phylum Basidiomycota   >   Class Agaricomycetes   >   Order Boletales   >   Family Sclerodermataceae   >   Genus Scleroderma   

Status:

Found solitary or in groups on ground or decaying wood in forests.

Description:

Fruiting body: Some shade of brown covered with coarse warts/scales; mostly spherical; tough skin. Spores: Firm white mass when young, becoming marbled gray/purplish/black, finally becoming blackish/brownish at maturity. Skin rots away exposing powdery spores (J. Solem, pers. comm).

Relationships:

Sometimes attacked by Parasitic Bolete (Boletus parasiticus), a small bolete that may have several fruiting bodies attached to one puffball. The exact relationship between the two species is not fully understood. (L. Biechele, pers. comm.)

There are 198 records in the project database.

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A Common Earthball in Frederick Co., Maryland (6/29/2014). Photo by Richard Orr. (MBP list)

Common Earthball (fruiting body) in Howard Co., Maryland (7/29/2014). Photo by Joanne Solem. (MBP list)

Common Earthball in Howard Co., Maryland (7/10/2020). (c) Emilio Concari, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by Emilio Concari. (MBP list)

Common Earthball in Montgomery Co., Maryland (9/24/2017). Determined by Jo Solem. Photo by Anne Looker. (MBP list)

Common Earthball (cut surface showing mature spores) in Howard Co., Maryland (6/23/2009). Photo by Robert Solem. (MBP list)

Common Earthball in Howard Co., Maryland (9/13/2009). Photo shows fruiting body with opening for spore release Photo by Robert Solem. (MBP list)

Common Earthball in Howard, Maryland (7/27/2011). Photo shows mature spores within old fruiting bodies. Photo by Joanne Solem. (MBP list)

Common Earthball in Montgomery Co., Maryland (8/7/2019). (c) Serenella Linares, some rights reserved (CC BY). Photo by Serenella Linares via iNaturalist. (MBP list)

Common Earthball in Baltimore Co., Maryland (8/26/2018). Photo by Ashley Bradford. (MBP list)

Common Earthball in Carroll Co., Maryland (11/13/2020). (c) Emilio Concari, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by Emilio Concari. (MBP list)

Common Earthball in Montgomery Co., Maryland (7/15/2020). (c) amytsnyder, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by amytsnyder via iNaturalist. (MBP list)

Common Earthball in Montgomery Co., Maryland (8/28/2018). Determined by Jo Solem. Photo by Anne Looker. (MBP list)

Common Earthball in Carroll Co., Maryland (9/5/2020). (c) Emilio Concari, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by Emilio Concari. (MBP list)

A Common Earthball in Worcester Co., Maryland (10/5/2014). Photo by Lance Biechele. (MBP list)

Common Earthball in Montgomery Co., Maryland (8/7/2019). (c) Serenella Linares, some rights reserved (CC BY). Photo by Serenella Linares via iNaturalist. (MBP list)

Common Earthball in Howard Co., Maryland (8/12/2017). Photo by Joanne Solem. (MBP list)

Common Earthball in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (6/17/2018). (c) Matthew Beziat, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by Matthew Beziat. (MBP list)

Common Earthball in Charles Co., Maryland (8/6/2019). (c) mkgammon, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by mkgammon via iNaturalist. (MBP list)

A Common Earthball in winter in Howard Co., Maryland (12/18/2015). Photo by Bonnie Ott. (MBP list)

Common Earthball spores collected from a specimen in Howard, Maryland (7/29/2014). Round, strongly reticulate; measured 11.4-13.9 microns. Photo by Robert Solem. (MBP list)

Common Earthball in Washington Co., Maryland (10/4/2020). (c) smuller, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by Sue Muller. (MBP list)

Common Earthball in Baltimore Co., Maryland (8/26/2018). (c) Ashley M Bradford, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by Ashley Bradford. (MBP list)

Common Earthball in Baltimore Co., Maryland (9/28/2020). (c) Rin, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA). Photo by rinwolfe via iNaturalist. (MBP list)

Common Earthball in Prince George's Co., Maryland (9/10/2017). (c) Katja Schulz, some rights reserved (CC BY). Photo by Katja Schulz via iNaturalist. (MBP list)

Common Earthball in Montgomery Co., Maryland (8/31/2019). (c) thierola, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by thierola via iNaturalist. (MBP list)


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