Brown Puffball - Bovista nigrescens

The fruiting body is 3 to 6 cm across and is attached to the substrate by a single mycelial cord which often breaks, leaving the fruit body free to roll about in the wind. The outer wall is white at first, but soon flakes off in large scales at maturity to expose the dark purple-brown to blackish inner wall that encloses the spore mass.

It is similar to the Grey Puffball, Bovista plumbea, but is larger and has a brown spore sac when mature, not grey like B. plumbea.

Found in grass and pastureland especially on acid soils.

Fruiting in late summer to autumn, they persist in old dried condition for many months.

Widespread and fairly frequent in Britain, especially in southern counties.

Occasional in Leicestershire and Rutland.