{{Short description|Species of fungus}} {{Speciesbox | image = Podaxis_Baja_California.jpg | image_caption = | genus = Podaxis | species = pistillaris | authority = (L.) Fr. (as "''Podaxon''") }} {{ mycomorphbox | name = ''Podaxis pistillaris'' | whichGills = seceding | capShape = conical | hymeniumType = gills | stipeCharacter = ring | ecologicalType = saprotrophic | sporePrintColor = buff | sporePrintColor2 = reddish-brown | howEdible = edible | howEdible2 = inedible }}
'''''Podaxis pistillaris''''' is a xerophilic agaric mushroom related to the puffballs and inkcaps. It is commonly known as the '''desert shaggy mane'''. The cap grows to 11 cm tall and thrives in deserts and semi-deserts of North America, Australia, and South Africa.
== Taxonomy == Older synonyms for this species include ''Lycoperdon pistillare'' L. (1771) and ''Scleroderma pistillare'' (L.) Pers. (1801).
The species' common name stems from its superficial resemblance to the shaggy mane, ''Coprinus comatus'', the deliquescing gills of which it lacks.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kuo |first=M |date=June 2017 |title=Podaxis pistillaris (MushroomExpert.Com) |url=https://www.mushroomexpert.com/podaxis_pistillaris.html |access-date=2022-08-24 |website=www.mushroomexpert.com}}</ref>
It is an agaric, though it has lost hymenophoral organization and the ability to forcibly discharge its spores and become "secotioid".<ref name="urlCalifornia Fungi: ''Podaxis pistillaris''">{{cite web |title=California Fungi: ''Podaxis pistillaris'' |url=https://www.mykoweb.com/CAF/species/Podaxis_pistillaris.html |access-date=2008-12-04}}</ref> Although considered by many to be a "stalked puffball", ''P. pistillaris'' is more closely allied with the shaggy mane (''Coprinus comatus'') than with puffballs.<ref>Hopple JS, Vilgalys R. (1994). Phylogenetic relationships among coprinoid taxa and allies based on data from restriction site mapping of nuclear rDNA. ''Mycologia'' '''86'''(1): 96-107.</ref>
== Description == The pileus is a pod that grows up to {{Convert|11|cm|frac=4}} tall.<ref name="audu">{{Cite book |last=Audubon |title=Mushrooms of North America |publisher=Knopf |year=2023 |isbn=978-0-593-31998-7 |pages=578}}</ref> It has a hard, woody stem. The large cap, which protects the blackish spore-bearing tissue, forms scales<ref name="Arora1986">{{Cite book |last=Arora |first=David |author-link=David Arora |url=https://archive.org/details/arora-david-mushrooms-demystified-a-comprehensive-guide-to-the-fleshy-fungi-ten-speed-press-1986/page/725/mode/2up |title=Mushrooms Demystified: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fleshy Fungi |publisher=Ten Speed Press |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-89815-170-1 |edition=2nd |location=Berkeley, California |pages=725–26 |orig-date=1979}}</ref> and splits; it usually falls away at maturity, allowing the spores to be dispersed by wind.
The spore print is dark brown to black,<ref name="audu" /> if obtainable.<ref name="Arora1986" />
The spores are usually 10–14 (–16) by (8–) 9–12 μm, broadly oval to sub-globose,<ref name="Arora1986" /> smooth yellow to deep reddish-brown with a double wall, truncate base, and apical pore. Older spore measurements have varied considerably. Species from Australian collections appear to be more subglobose than those seen from the United States, raising the possibility that the latter are not the same species.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}
=== Similar species === Some less common species in the genus appear very similar but the spores are smaller.<ref name="Arora1986" />
==Distribution and habitat== Large numbers may appear after soaking rains.<ref name="isbn1-876473-51-7">{{cite book |author=Fuhrer BA. |title=Field Guide to Fungi |publisher=Bloomings Books Pty Ltd |year=2005 |isbn=1-876473-51-7}}</ref> It thrives in deserts and semi-deserts of Australia{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}} and North America.<ref name="audu" /> It is often found on termite mounds in South Africa.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lenz |first1=M. |last2=Priest |first2=M.J. |year=1999 |title=The Genus Podaxis (Gasteromycetes) in Australia with a Description of a New Species from Termite Mounds |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240509762 |journal=Australian Systematic Botany |volume=12 |page=109 |doi=10.1071/SB95043}}</ref> In Hawaii, it is frequently encountered along roadsides and in disturbed areas on the dry sides of the islands, especially in the Kona area of Hawaii and the Kihei area of Maui.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}} David Arora reports its presence near the Taj Mahal in India.<ref name="Arora1986" />
==Uses== The species is not poisonous, but is not commonly eaten.<ref name="Miller 2006">{{cite book |last1=Miller Jr. |first1=Orson K. |author-link=Orson K. Miller Jr. |title=North American Mushrooms: A Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi |last2=Miller |first2=Hope H. |publisher=FalconGuides |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7627-3109-1 |location=Guilford, CN |pages=488}}</ref> It is said to be edible when young and still white inside.<ref name="Arora1986" /> It is reportedly difficult to cultivate.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}
In Australia, it was used by many desert tribes to darken the white hair in old men's whiskers and for body painting. The fungus was presumably used by many desert Aboriginal peoples due to its distribution around drier areas of Australia. There are reports of its also being used as a fly repellent. Apart from the more common, ground-inhabiting ''P. pistillaris'', there is one other ''Podaxis'' species in Australia, ''P. beringamensis'', found on termite mounds; presumably both species were used.<ref>Arpad Kalotas in Fungi of Australia, Volume 1B. https://www.anbg.gov.au/fungi/aboriginal.html</ref>
Like many "puffballs", the species can be used to dye textiles, resulting in either a tan or a reddish hue. This requires an alkaline base, and many home dyers use ammonia. Urine was used in former times.<ref>Pers.comm. 1978. Weaver on the Dine reservation, Arizona, USA. ''in'' Soule, J.A. in press. Ethnobotany of Southwestern Plants. Tierra del Sol Institute Press.</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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Category:Agaricaceae Category:Inedible fungi Category:Fungi of Australia Category:Fungi of Hawaii Category:Secotioid fungi Category:Fungi without expected TNC conservation status