Learn / Ask The Landscape Professional

I found these in our flower garden. They were half exposed so I pulled them up on top of the ground. The day I did this there were just five oval bulb-like things. Next day, the bottom one grew a whitish stem about 3 inches long with a strange top to it. I don't know what to make of these things. Are they some kind of mushroom/fungi? Vinny

Answer

Hi Vinny,
From your photo, it looks like a type of fungal fruiting body usually called earth balls which are related to puffbal fungi. They are not harmful to the plants near them. They are mycorrhizal which means they live symbiotically with the surrounding tree roots. The tree roots and earth balls share nutrients and water that benefit bth. The earth balls produce an abundance of spores of various colors that are spread by animals digging them up. So, the bottom line is they are a good thing to have growing in your soil.

Thank you.

View As PDF

To view a PDF of this article, please click here.

 

---

About Linda Lillie

Linda K. Lillie is the President of Sprigs & Twigs, Inc, the premier landscape design and maintenance, tree care, lawn care, stonework, and carpentry service provider in southeastern Connecticut since 1997. She is a graduate of Connecticut College in Botany, a Connecticut Master Gardener and a national award winning landscape designer for her landscape design and landscape installation work.

Topics

• New! (4)
• Plants (119)
• Trees (73)
• Shrubs (43)
• Grass (38)
• Landscape Design (25)
• Insects/Animals (31)
• Weeds (25)
• Miscellaneous (64)
• Seasonal: Spring (12)
• Seasonal: Summer (7)
• Seasonal: Fall (15)
• Seasonal: Winter (33)

Lecture Series

Our weekly "Ask The Landscape Professional" series is expanding to include video lectures on various topics. To watch some of our lectures online, please click here.

Submit Your Question

Do you have a question to Ask The Landscape Professional? Click here to contact us and send us your question!