Puffballs are fungi, so named because clouds of brown dust-like spores are emitted when the mature fruitbody bursts or is impacted. Puffballs are in the division Basidiomycota and encompass several genera, including Calvatia, Calbovista and Lycoperdon. True puffballs do not have a visible stalk or stem. The puffballs were previously treated as a taxonomic group called the Gasteromycetes or Gasteromycetidae, but they are now known to be a polyphyletic assemblage.
Secotioid fungi are an intermediate growth form between mushroom-like hymenomycetes and closed bag-shaped gasteromycetes, where an evolutionary process of gasteromycetation has started but not run to completion. Secotioid fungi may or may not have opening caps, but in any case they often lack the vertical geotropic orientation of the hymenophore needed to allow the spores to be dispersed by wind, and the basidiospores are not forcibly discharged or otherwise prevented from being dispersed —note—some mycologists do not consider a species to be secotioid unless it has lost ballistospory.
The Russulaceae are a diverse family of fungi in the order Russulales, with roughly 1,900 known species and a worldwide distribution. They comprise the brittlegills and the milk-caps, well-known mushroom-forming fungi that include some edible species. These gilled mushrooms are characterised by the brittle flesh of their fruitbodies.
Macrolepiota is a genus of white spored, gilled mushrooms of the family Agaricaceae. The best-known member is the parasol mushroom (M. procera). The widespread genus contains about 40 species.
Gautieria is a genus of hypogeal fungi in the family Gomphaceae. They form mycorrhizae with various tree species, mostly from the Pinaceae family. Species are present over much of the world's temperate and boreal forest habitats. It is well documented that species from this genera are an important part of the diet of the northern flying squirrel. Also, some Australian marsupials, especially the rat-kangaroos, feed extensively on these fungi. The fungi also benefit from this relationship: not only do the squirrels help to disperse the spores and propagate the species, studies suggest that passage through the digestive tract of a mammal promotes germination of spores.
Boletellus is a genus of fungi in the family Boletaceae. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in subtropical regions, and contains about 50 species. The genus was first described by American mycologist William Alphonso Murrill in 1909. The genus name means "small Boletus".
Handkea is a genus of puffball mushrooms in the family Agaricaceae. In 1989, German mycologist Hanns Kreisel described the genus Handkea to include species of Calvatia with distinct microscopic features, including a unique type of capillitium, with curvy slits instead of the usual pores. Although accepted by some authors, the genus concept has been rejected by others.
Oudemansiella australis is a species of gilled mushroom in the Physalacriaceae family. It is found in Australasia, where it grows on rotting wood. It produces fruit bodies that are white, with caps up to 5.5 cm (2.2 in) in diameter, attached to short, thick stems.
Banksiamyces is a genus of fungi in the order Helotiales, with a tentative placement in the family Helotiaceae. The genus contains four species, which grow on the seed follicles of the dead infructescences or "cones" of various species of Banksia, a genus in the plant family Proteaceae endemic to Australia. Fruit bodies of the fungus appear as small, shallow dark cups on the follicles of the Banksia fruit. The edges of dry fruit bodies fold inwards, appearing like narrow slits. The first specimens of Banksiamyces, known then as Tympanis toomansis, were described in 1887. Specimens continued to be collected occasionally for almost 100 years before becoming examined more critically in the early 1980s, leading to the creation of a new genus to contain what was determined to be three distinct species, B. katerinae, B. macrocarpus, and B. toomansis. A fourth species, B. maccannii, was added in 1984.
Abstoma is a genus of gasteroid fungi in the family Agaricaceae. The type species, A. purpureum, was described from New Zealand by mycologist Gordon Herriot Cunningham in 1926. Wright and colleagues transferred A. stuckertii to the genus in 1990, but Moreno et al. proposed a new combination Disciseda stuckertii in 2007. A. fimbrialis was described from Baja California, Mexico, in 1992. A. townei is found in western and southwest USA and in west Argentina, while A. reticulatum occurs in Australia and the western and southwestern USA.
The gasteroid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota. Species were formerly placed in the obsolete class Gasteromycetes Fr., or the equally obsolete order Gasteromycetales Rea, because they produce spores inside their basidiocarps rather than on an outer surface. However, the class is polyphyletic, as such species—which include puffballs, earthstars, stinkhorns, and false truffles—are not closely related to each other. Because they are often studied as a group, it has been convenient to retain the informal (non-taxonomic) name of "gasteroid fungi".
Banksiamyces toomansis is a species of fungus in the family Helotiaceae. It was first described as Tympanis toomansis by Miles Joseph Berkeley and Christopher Edmund Broome in 1886, and transferred to the genus Encoelia in 1957 by R.W.G. Dennis. Gordon William Beaton transferred it to Banksiamyces in 1982.
Handkea excipuliformis, commonly known as the pestle puffball or long-stemmed puffball, is a species of the Agaricaceae family. A rather large puffball, it may reach dimensions of up to 15 cm (5.9 in) broad by 25 cm (9.8 in) tall. Widespread in northern temperate zones, it is found frequently on pastures and sandy heaths.
Nothocastoreum is a fungal genus in the Mesophelliaceae family. The genus is monotypic, containing the single truffle-like species Nothocastoreum cretaceum, found in Australia.
Cortinarius porphyroideus, commonly known as purple pouch fungus, is a secotioid species of fungus found in Australia and in beech forests of New Zealand. It was one of six species that appeared as part of a series depicting native New Zealand fungi on stamps, released in 2002.
Geastrum minimum or tiny earthstar is an inedible species of mushroom belonging to the genus Geastrum. Although rare, it is widespread in Europe, where it occurs in a range of habitats. It is a priority species in the UK, where it has been found in the sand dunes at Holkham National Nature Reserve.
Stephanospora is a genus of gasteroid fungi in the family Stephanosporaceae. As of September 2015, Index Fungorum lists six species in the genus; nine new Australasian species were described in 2014 from collections previously thought to represent S. flava.
David Pegler is a British mycologist. Until his retirement in 1998, he served as the Head of Mycology and assistant keeper of the herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. Pegler received his BSc from London University in 1960, thereafter studying tropical Agaricales with R.W.G. Dennis as his graduate supervisor. He earned a master's degree in 1966, and a PhD in 1974. His graduate thesis was on agarics of east Africa, later published as A preliminary agaric flora of East Africa in 1977. In 1989, London University awarded him a DSc for his research into the Agaricales. Several fungal taxa have been named in his honour:
