Pepper pot
6 December 2010
The Pepper pot is related to puffballs and earthstars. In these fungi, ripe spores are usually puffed into the air from a hole at the top of the fruit body when raindrops hit the sides in a bellows-like action. Pepper pot fruit bodies are unique in having several holes, hence the old English name (and spelling) Cullender puff-ball. This is a rare species with few British (1600s to 1800s) records, mostly from sandy parts of Kent and East Anglia. English sightings ceased in 1880 and it was regarded as extinct in Britain until its rediscovery, over a century later, at two sites in East Suffolk.
Pepper pot © Neil Mahler
Latin name: Myriostoma coliforme
Population numbers:
Each site harbours several fruit bodies (“pepper pots”) which persist over winter and continue to release spores during the following year. Around 30 pepper pots were discovered in 2010 at the most recent site although only five appeared to be fresh. A survey of the surrounding area has not revealed further fruiting locations. The number of hidden fungal individuals responsible for producing the fruit bodies in any of the fruiting patches is unknown.
Where to see and when:
Pepper pots are visible throughout the year, but July onwards is probably the best time to find freshly emerged specimens. The fungus seems to favour sandy banks and waysides and if there are further English sites, the south eastern counties might offer the best chances. This fungus is currently Critically Endangered, so please don’t pick them.
What’s being done:
Conservationists are publicising this species in print and online to encourage further searches in likely habitat. Surveys are ongoing in East Anglia to try to improve our knowledge of its British distribution and efforts are being made to protect the known sites.
Moreinformation:
Pegler, D.N., Laessoe, T. & Spooner, B.M. (1995). British Puffballs, Earthstars and Stinkhorns: An Account of the British Gasteroid Fungi. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Mahler, N. & Ainsworth, A.M. (2010). A Second Recent Record of Myriostoma coliforme (Critically Endangered) from East Suffolk. Field Mycology 11: 144-145.
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Native plants, fungi and animals we featured each week for the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity.
