The Puffball reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Puffball

Puffballs are a polyphyletic assemblage of Basidiomycota with gasterothecia (gasteroid basidiocarps) in which the spores are produced internally; that is, the basidiocarp remains closed, or opens only after the spores have been released from the basidia. Their spores are statismospores rather than ballistospores, meaning they are not actively shot off the basidium. Puffballs and similar forms are thought to have evolved repeatedly (that is, in numerous independent events) from hymenomycetes by gasteromycetation, through secotioid stages. Thus Gasteromycetes or Gasteromycetidae are now considered descriptive terms (more properly gasteroid or gasteromycetes) and not valid cladistic terms.

While most puffballs are not poisonous, and the poisonous puffballs are typically quite distinct from the non-poisonous ones, puffballs often look similar to young agarics, especially the deadly Amanitas. It is for this reason that all puffballs gathered in mushroom hunting should be cut in half. Puffballs have an internal 'cup' shape, not a 'T' shape (except for unicapitate ones).

Major orders:

• Lycoperdales, Tulostomatales, Nidulariales (related to Agaricales),

• Geastrales and Phallales (related to Cantharellales),

• Sclerodermatales (related to Boletales)

• and various false-truffles (hypogaeic gasteromycetes) related to different hymenomycete orders.

Similarly, the true truffles (Tuberales) are gasteroid Ascomycota. Their ascocarps are called tuberothecia.

References

• Homobasidiomycetes at the Tree of Life Web Project.

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