A small puffball covered in long, soft spines that are often joined at their tips in clusters of three or four. The spines fall away with age, leaving a brown surface marked with a net-like pattern. It favors deciduous woods, especially beech on alkaline soils.
Edibility disputed; not recommended. Some sources call it edible while the interior is white and firm, but First Nature lists it as inedible, and older specimens may cause stomach upset. Slice every puffball top to bottom before eating: it must be pure white and uniform inside. A cap-and-gill outline means a young Amanita egg, possibly deadly (amatoxins); a firm, thick-skinned ball that is purple-black inside is a poisonous Scleroderma earthball.
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Habitat
Saprobic on soil, moss, humus or woody debris, alone or in small groups. Mainly in deciduous woodland, especially beech on chalk or limestone; also in glades and pastures. Late spring to autumn.
Distribution
Europe, including Britain and Ireland (uncommon); also widely reported in North America, mainly east of the Rocky Mountains. Also reported from Africa, China, Japan, Iran and Costa Rica. North American material with more slender spines was described as Lycoperdon americanum Demoulin; authors differ on whether it is a separate species, so North American records of L. echinatum may partly refer to it.
Characteristics
Fruitbody: 2-4 cm wide and 2-3.5 cm tall, roughly round to pear-shaped on a small sterile base; white at first, becoming dark brown. Surface: spines up to about 6 mm long, often fused at the tips in groups of 3-4; they drop off to leave a reticulate (net-patterned) surface. Interior: gleba white and firm when young, becoming a very dark purple-brown spore mass. Opening: spores escape through a pore at the top, often when raindrops strike it. Spores: roughly spherical, warted, about 3.5-6 um (First Nature; Wikipedia).
