Puffballs And Earthstars

This group gathers Fungi subcategory members belonging to the puffballs and earthstars, fungi that depart from the classic cap-and-stem mushroom shape in favor of a rounded or pear-shaped fruiting body that matures into a closed sac of powdery spores rather than an open cap with gills or pores. A puffball releases its spores in a visible puff of dust-like powder when its outer skin is disturbed by raindrops, a falling branch, or an animal's footstep, while an earthstar begins life shaped much like a puffball but splits its outer layer into star-shaped rays at maturity, lifting the inner spore sac like a small pedestal. Both groups rank among the easier fungi to recognize even for a casual observer, precisely because their shape is so different from an ordinary mushroom, and several larger species have been eaten as food while young and still firm inside.