These fungi often come up with days of rain, even during summer. They tend to be roundish as opposed to the Lycoperdon puffballs which tend to be pear shaped. They often go a shade of brown as they mature and will also often lose those tiny warts (ornamentation) on their surface. Spores are released by a small central pore (ostiole) on the top of the fungus. They are saprotrophic, that is they break down dead organic matter recycling the nutrients back into the substrate.