Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Agaricaceae
Genus: Lycoperdon
Species: L. compactum
Synonym: .Morganella compacta
Binomial name: Lycoperdon compactum
Lycoperdon compactum is a small, endemic, saprophytic spiny puffball occurring only in the native forests of New Zealand. The small puffball is about the size of a large marble and it lives on dead and buried wood. The immature sporocarp (fruiting body) is covered with brown to dark brown spines which in time erode off revealing a network pattern on the exposed inner layer. The sporocarp is then ripe and when it is hit by heavy raindrops spores are puffed out through an aperture at the top.
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