Calvatia Cyathiformis
Calvatia cyathiformisCup-shaped Puffball
Peridium - Large, top-shaped.
Bark or Outer Coat - Thin, adherent, smooth, and continuous, easily peeling off.
Inner Coat - Pale to dark purple, loosely woven, fragile at maturnity, breaking up into fragments from above downward.
Subgleba - Short and thick, with cord-like root, persistent, cup-shaped, occupying 1/3-1/2 the peridium.
Spores and Threads - Violet to dark purple. Spores globose and warted, threads long.
Time - August to October.
Habitat - On the ground in meadows and pastures.
The old name was Lycoperdon cyathiforme. Cyathiforme, meaning cup-shaped, is suggested by the cup-like which base which remains after the dispersion of the spores and threads (capillitium).