Scleroderma meridionale is a puffball-like fungus in the family Sclerodermataceae. The fungus produces roughly circular to irregularly shaped fruit bodies up to 6 cm (2.4 in) in diameter, characterised by a thick, yellow to tan peridium that splits into lobes when mature to reveal a dark brownish-grey spore mass inside. It typically grows in sandy, dry soils throughout the Mediterranean basin and parts of North America, where it forms beneficial relationships with various woody plants including pines, oaks and shrubs of the family Cistaceae.
From Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Is it poisonous?
We have no record of Scleroderma meridionale being toxic, poisonous or venomous. That is not proof that it is safe. Never eat, touch or handle a wild plant, mushroom or animal on the strength of an identification; ask someone qualified.
Easily confused with
- Scleroderma cepa — considered toxic
- Scleroderma bovista
- Scleroderma macrosporum
- Scleroderma polyrhizum — considered toxic
- Rhizopogon luteolus
- Rhizopogon occidentalis
Classification
- Kingdom
- Fungi
- Phylum
- Basidiomycota
- Class
- Agaricomycetes
- Order
- Boletales
- Family
- Sclerodermataceae
- Genus
- Scleroderma
- Species
- Scleroderma meridionale
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