puffball

puffball
/puf"bawl'/, n.
any of various basidiomycetous fungi, esp. of the genus Lycoperdon and allied genera, characterized by a ball-like fruit body that emits a cloud of spores when broken.
[1640-50; PUFF + BALL1]

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Any of various fungi (see fungus) in the order Lycoperdales of the class Basidiomycetes, found in soil or on decaying wood in grassy areas and woods.

Puffballs are named for the fact that puffs of spores are released when the dry and powdery tissues of the mature spherical fruiting body (basidiocarp) are disturbed. Many are edible before maturity.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Puffball — Puff ball , n. (Bot.) A kind of ball shaped fungus ({Lycoperdon giganteum}, and other species of the same genus) full of dustlike spores when ripe; called also {bullfist}, {bullfice}, {puckfist}, {puff}, and {puffin}. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • puffball — ► NOUN ▪ a fungus that produces a large round fruiting body which ruptures when ripe to release a cloud of spores …   English terms dictionary

  • puffball — [puf′bôl΄] n. any of various round basidiomycetous fungi (esp. order Lycoperdales) that burst at the touch, when mature, and discharge a brown powder …   English World dictionary

  • Puffball — Taxobox name = Puffball image width = 250px image caption = Puffball Mushroom regnum = Fungi divisio = Basidiomycota classis = ordo = familia = subdivision ranks = subdivision = A puffball is a member of any of a number of groups of fungus in the …   Wikipedia

  • puffball — noun 1. any of various fungi of the family Lycoperdaceae whose round fruiting body discharges a cloud of spores when mature • Syn: ↑true puffball • Hypernyms: ↑fungus • Hyponyms: ↑giant puffball, ↑Calvatia gigantea …   Useful english dictionary

  • puffball — UK [ˈpʌfˌbɔːl] / US [ˈpʌfˌbɔl] noun [countable] Word forms puffball : singular puffball plural puffballs a round brown fungus that lets out seeds through an opening in its top …   English dictionary

  • puffball — [[t]pʌ̱fbɔːl[/t]] puffballs also puff ball N COUNT A puffball is a round fungus which bursts when it is ripe and sends a cloud of seeds into the air …   English dictionary

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  • Puffball (novel) — Puffball is a 1980 novel by Fay Weldon, which was made into a film [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0484881/] in 2007 by Nicholas Roeg and starred Donald Sutherland, Miranda Richardson and Rita Tushingham.Although set in rural England the film was… …   Wikipedia

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