A very common sight in lawns in autumn in WA is Vascellum pratense, a small white puffball that grows no more than about 50 mm across. If you pick one of these when it is new, the interior is white and is has a mushroom smell. Later on the inside becomes a mass of brown spores that emerge through a hole in the top. The sheer quantity of spores released by these mushrooms is so vast that one can only imagine the success rate of germination and formation of a new colony is extremely small. Investigations of other puffballs support this conclusion.
As it is rather difficult to photograph this mushroom in situ, I have taken a few pictures of one that I have picked. Here it is as it has been freshly picked from a lawn:
Vascellum pratense as picked
When cut in half, the mushroom shows two distinct zones:
Sectioned specimen showing two zones
The upper surface has a fine warty texture:
Texture of upper surface
Examining a specimen day after picking, the outer surface takes on a slightly gold colour if it is rubbed hard with a finger. The inside flesh also shows a very faint yellow when bruised.
To eat these, it is recommended that they be picked before the top zone begins to turn into a spore mass. In other words, while the flesh is all white. They are not considered to be a particularly desirable edible. I fried some up in oil, where they browned very quickly, and then incorporated them in an omlette. The taste was not unpleasant. There did appear to be an after taste that suggested a flavour enhancing effect.
Comment, May 2016
I think it is important to cook them while they are very fresh. I left some overnight and they softened slightly and the taste took on a slightly bitter edge.
These are quite a distinctive species. The main thing to be careful of is not to confuse them with the genus Scleroderma. There is one suggestion that the skin should be removed prior to cooking. I didn’t do this however.
These can be a problem for greenkeepers when they colonise bowling greens or golf greens. Here is an example of such an invasion on the bowling green at Nannup in May 2016.
Fairy rings of Vascellum pratense on the bowling green at Nannup