Can anyone help me identify this?? We have a couple of these in our front lawn. They're about the size and shape of an average mushroom and they are about as fragile as mushrooms, but on the inside they are made of porous brown water resistant dirt. (I shot one with the hose and it burst into dust, but didn't become mud!) I'm not sure if it's a plant. I thought it might be a bug nest of some kind, but I've never seen any bugs come in or out of them. What is it??? What should I do with it?? http://www.hipaudio.com/images/thing.jpg
I googled those names and nearly all the images I got back were of similarly shaped mushrooms but they were white and people seemed to think you could cut and cook them. The ones in my lawn just turn to brown dust if you apply pressure. Why would these be different? Although, using the word "puffball" I also found this: http://www.greatstems.com/2012/04/meeting-wonderlands-caterpillar.html The last two photos in that list are definitely what I've got in the lawn, and this person is calling them "puffballs" too. Is this a specific type of puffball? An old puffball?
"puffball" is a general term for this type of fungus. The one you have is mature that has produced spores.
