How to identify Pear Puffball

To correctly identify Pear Puffball (Apioperdon pyriforme), check each of these features in order. Misidentification is the most common cause of mushroom poisoning, so cross-reference multiple sources.

Step-by-step identification

1. 1

   Cap

   Shape, color, surface texture, and diameter.

   Technically, puffballs do not have a cap and stem like typical mushrooms. The fruiting body is pear-shaped to roundish, 1-5 cm across, and attached to a small, sterile base.

2. 2

   Gills

   Attachment to stem, color, and spacing.

   Absent. Puffballs do not have gills.

3. 3

   Stem

   Length, shape, surface, and any ring.

   A sterile base that attaches the fruiting body to the substrate. It is not a true stem.

4. 4

   Flesh

   Color, texture, and bruising reaction.

   The internal flesh (gleba) is white and firm when young, turning yellowish and eventually brownish-olive as it matures. Only eat when the flesh is uniformly white.

5. 5

   Fruiting body

   Overall growth pattern.

   Pear-shaped to roundish, attached to a sterile base. White when young, turning brownish with age.

6. 6

   Habitat

   Where it grows and on what substrate.

   Grows on decaying wood, often in dense clusters.

Key Facts

Cap surfaces

Smooth, becoming cracked with age

Growth Form

Clustered

Spore Print

Olive-brown

Body color

White to brownish

Odor

Mild, mushroomy when young

Flesh bruises

Does not bruise

Height

2-7 cm

Cap Diameter

1-5 cm

Fruit body characteristics

• Gill attachment: Absent (Gleba)
• Stem shape: Tapering downwards
• Stem surface: Smooth to slightly wrinkled
• Ring: Absent
• Stem cross-section: Solid

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