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Gem-studded Puffball
The most common puffball in North America and the type species of Lycoperdon. Young fruitbodies are white and studded with conical spines surrounded by smaller granules. The larger spines break off with age, leaving a net of round scars on the yellow-brown skin.
Edible when young, only while the interior is completely white and uniform; inedible once the spores begin to mature and the flesh yellows or browns. Inhaling the spores can cause lung irritation. 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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