• Asian Journal of Turfgrass Science
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.171-178
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• 2008

We have found the clusters of tiny spiny puffball-like mushrooms growing gregariously in fairy ring (arcs) rimmed by a zone of darker green grass in the golf courses. Macroscopic as well as microscopic characters were examined for the morphology of fruiting body. Exoperidium is thin and densely spiny with minute fibrillae at early stage. The connivent spines were soft and quite persistent. In age, the fibrillae scrumble away with a powdery coating, which leaves white endoperidium becoming pale brown. It's interior was white and fleshy at first, but turns into an olive-colored dust as the gleba, the spore-producing tissue, develops to maturity and loaded with olive-brown spore mass. Then, distinct apical pore developed on the endoperidium. Rudimentary subgleba(sterile base) was narrow, chambered, delineated from the gleba by a membrane in young material. These characters suggested this fungus is a Vascellum, a member of the family Lycoperdaceae. The shapes of the spores were globose, echinulate, $3{\sim}3.5{\mu}m$ in diameter, thick-walled, and olive brown. Capillitial threads were $8-9{\mu}m$ wide, mostly colorless in KOH solution and thin-walled, which designated as "paracapillitium". This is an another character that distinguishes this mushroom from Lycoperdon spp. The spines developed on exoperidium were characteristically connivent; their apices joined together in a point, leaving a space below, which gives the appearance of vault to each group of usually 5 to 6 fibrillae. Based on the above characters, this fungus is identified as Vascellum curtisii (Berkeley). The characters distinguishable this from Lycoperdon pulcherrimum, and Vascellum pretense are discussed in detail. Control trial was also attempted. Strong vertical raking(SVR) followed by applying 500x detergent solution (Spark, Aekyung Co. Seoul) resulted in excellent control over any other treatments. In this plot, fruiting body was not developed throughout the end of mushroom growing season.