Earth Ball Mushroom

Checked your collection of mushrooms, and I can't seem to find even a cousin to this spotting. In your photo, there seems to be so high of a contrast that dark areas where shadows would normally occur appear to be black. Notice the grass to the right of the mushroom and how it looks very dark, unshadowlike -- surely those aren't gills, right? It just seems a lot like an illusion, but that's only a theory. Your animal one is new and could possibly have happened! There's also always the small chance that it could be a mutation or natural abnormality (such as an albino or mushroom that didn't develope completely), but the chances of that are incredibly slim.

Hahahha no sweat Alex; at the rate I'm turning pages with my guides, they'll soon go on strike!

sorry guys, i was with the nose in the books, No problem ivan, i'm no learned mycolog and make often mistakes. i think: keith has to comment it a bit more or make more picture. It is sometimes, the same as : I give an entomolog an insect-facet-eye-(picture), and say: please identify the species ! Please keith: do you have some more information ??

Ohh that makes more sense! And yes, he's the magic man at this point. It all goes back to fungophobia... lack of knowledge on this diverse kingdom known as fungi leads to fear, and therefore many peoples' comfort zone lies in taking pictures with as little interaction to the subject. I mean, if couldn't tell an Amanita phalloides from a Boletus edulis, I'd also feel safer touching neither!! So we're doing well right now; we expose people to the good, the bad, and everything inbetween so that this diverse community can learn to step up to a mushroom with a greater sense of understanding.

The last image on that link is what I'm imagining, but as it stands, I'm outnumbered by two-to-one, and they're both well-learned mycologists. I'm hopeful to see what species comes up. :)

That's completely fine Clive! But I can't say for sure, unless we are given more information than this top view image. If it was a gilled mushroom, it's most likely old and in a state of decay, yet this one seems fine and healthy. Come on Keith, help us out with any more details!! :)

Also I'm starting to notice that the skin seems to be leathery or rough (as a baseball rind), but we'd need Keith's input to be sure. Again, this is a trait I have never witnessed in gilled mushrooms. What do you think?

Haha anytime Alex! It happens. :) And it's really hard to tell, but I'd say it's an earthball judging by a few things; if you look carefully at the dark areas that appear to be gills, you can see the grass underneath it or grass might be even poping through it, rending it just splits and not gills; this mature species seems to be very close to the ground for gills to develope and be useful in releasing spores (consider the button stage of most gilled fungi); lastly, what seems to be the spores collected on the skin of the earthball, producing a brownish "spore print." Frankly, I've yet to see any sort of mushroom, through pictures or personally, that resembles this (if it were to be gilled, that is!), but that could just due to inexperiece.

ok sorry ivan, was confuse, with the peridium.Have jumped into the world of slime molds , the last time. From there i learned "perdium", and forgot about this "peridium"! As always,we learn everyday again! But don't you think this is a mushroom, : cap from above-grey/clay colored- splitted (on some fresh splitts, right/down/5 o'clock --> first you can see a layer of bright/grey flesh, then dark {gills}). When there were spores spilling, as much as from an earth-ball, then the grass around, would be discolored !

The skin of many earthballs, the peridium, right? And I thought we all agreed that it was a very mature puffball! At first it also seemed to me a mushroom with dark gills, but it seems to be a matter of extreme contrast in the image itself.

splitting mushroom on gras,dark brown gills (it seems).clay-like cap. clive could it be a agrocybe sp. !?

peridium ???

Oh okay I kinda see what you're saying now Clive... the image gave the illusion that there was a black spore mass underneath the remains of the fungi, and therefore did not key out at all! But I'm starting to see faint hints of a brown spore mass on the peridium. Keith, Scleroderma are a group commonly called Earthballs, you are right. :)

is this the cap from above? had it black gills (i think, to see some!) when it had gills, you have to find another suggestion, when it was: as an cut open football, unfolded. ---> then it could be as from clive suggested, be scleroderma sp residu ---> and yes, then it is called: earth ball muschroom