Boston Mycological Club

Asterophera lycoperdoides (Bull. ex Mer.) Dit. ex Fr.

Other names:

Nyctalis asterophera

Description:

This mushroom attacks the old dying mushrooms of the Russula/Lactarius, usually the group of mushrooms similar to the Russula nigricans. The A. lycoperdoides starts out as a small white button and produces the brown powder at maturity. The brown powder is actually asexual spores. The mushroom does have gills on which are produced the sexual spores that are white, but they can be very hard to obtain, and the gills are usually very mis-shaped.

References:

Lincoff - Audubon Field Guide to North American Mushrooms; page 738
Barron - Mushrooms of Northeast North America; page 260
Kibby - Mushrooms and Other Fungi; page 73
Phillips - Mushrooms of North America; page 78
Arora - Mushrooms Demystified; page 201

Images:

Collected 2001-07-22; Stow, MA; Woodhead Farm. These are particularly large specimens