Lycoperdon echinatum, commonly known as the spiny puffball or the spring puffball, is a type of puffball mushroom in the genus Lycoperdon. The saprobic species has been found in Africa, Europe, Central America and North America, where it grows on soil in deciduous woods, glades, and pastures. Molecular analysis indicates that Lycoperdon echinatum is closely related to the puffball genus Handkea. Initially white in color, the puffballs turn a dark brown as they mature, at the same time changing from nearly round to somewhat flattened. The fruit bodies are edible when young, when the interior is white and firm and before it has turned into a powdery brown mass of spores. Young specimens of L. echinatum resemble another edible spiny puffball, Lycoperdon pulcherrimum, but this latter species does not turn brown as it ages. Laboratory tests have shown that extracts of the fruit bodies can inhibit the growth of several bacteria that are pathogenic to humans.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycoperdon_echinatum

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1520:

Citizens of Toledo, Castile, who were opposed to the rule of the foreign-born Charles V, rose up in revolt when the royal government attempted to unseat radical city councilors. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolt_of_the_Comuneros

1853:

The first passenger line of what would become Indian Railways, the state-owned railway company of India, opened between Bombay and Thane. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Railways

1919:

Polish–Soviet War: The Polish army launched the Vilna offensive to capture Vilnius in modern Lithuania. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilna_offensive

2001:

India and Bangladesh began a five-day conflict over their disputed border, which ended in a stalemate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Indian%E2%80%93Bangladeshi_border_conflict

2007:

In one of the deadliest shooting incidents in United States history, a gunman killed 32 people and wounded over 20 more before committing suicide at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_massacre

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

heir apparent (n): (usually monarchy) Someone who will definitely inherit, assuming he survives the one from whom he is inheriting http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/heir_apparent

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

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It is well for the heart to be naive and for the mind not to be. --Anatole France http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anatole_France