Boston Mycological Club
Scleroderma aurantium
This is a thick-skinned puffball that is
usually found with a dark purple spore mass
inside. It's quite common and the outside
of the rind-like skin is similar to the surface
of a basketball - little bumps, in the colors
of a piece of 2-by-4 lumber. Looking closer
at the skin it appears cracked and warty
on the outside. This mushroom is sometimes
attacked by Boletus parasiticus.
Similar in appearance is Scleroderma cepa, which is noted for the outside rind bruising
'vinaceous' when cut or rubbed. Also similar
looking is Scleroderma areolatum, which has a much thinner skin and the 'warts'
are darker and thinner on a lighter colored
background.
If one of these is picked when it's young
enough, it will be white inside, but it is
still not recommended for eating.
Bessette - Mushrooms of Northeastern North
America; page 456
Lincoff - Audubon Field Guide to North American
Mushrooms; page 839
Barron - Mushrooms of Northeast North America;
page 92 (you can also read about Scleroderma areolatum here)
Kibby - Mushrooms and Other Fungi; page 145
Phillips - Mushrooms of North America; page
285 (you can compare S. cepa and S. areolatum here)
Arora - Mushrooms Demystified; page 708
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| Collected 2001-07-22; Stow, MA; Woodhead Farm. |