'Marvellous puffball' found growing out of road amazes Aussies: 'Erupting through bitumen'

An “unbelievable” growth resembling horse poo has left Aussies in awe after being spotted “erupting through bitumen” on a remote road.

An eagle-eyed driver appears to have stumbled across the puzzling black protrusion in northwest NSW before plucking it from the ground. Images show the bizarre bulbous object’s dark exterior and powdery yellow seed-like interior.

In a discussion online, it was revealed that the item that “looks like a decomposing rodent” is in fact a type of “puffball” fungus — more specifically, a species of pisolithus, Dr Tom May, senior mycologist at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, confirmed to Yahoo News Australia.

“It’s the kind of thing that when you are zooming down the highway in the outback and you think what is that?” he said.

One social media user declared it as “the most beautiful ugly fungi”, while others said they “thought it was an animal covered in oil”. “It's incredible how such a soft thing can push through bitumen,” someone else noted.

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What is a puffball fungi?

“Quite a few species” of pisolithus grow in the interior of Australia, and can often be found on the sides of roads, Dr May told Yahoo, explaining they are able to “push up through quite hard surfaces” and get as big as a softball.

“It’s kind of like pumping the tyres on the car, they’ll still sort of absorb water so they’re actually able to push up through quite tough substrates,” he said.

To match their unusual appearance, they have been given multiple descriptive names.

“[Pisolithus’s] sort of general type of fungus is a puffball because they’re initially quite firm and then eventually the inside is all powdery, and the powdery spores are released,” Dr May continued.

“They’re not like the typical puffballs that have a little opening in the top and the spores puff out. These erode down over time so they just sit there and the top gradually wears away and the powdery’s fullness is revealed.”

The mycologist said another common reference for the fungi is a dyeball because it has a “very strong” yellow colour that can be used to dye wool. “You’ll [also] often see them referred to as horse dropping fungi,” he added.

Are they toxic?

It is “unclear” if pisolithus are toxic, Dr May said, noting a closely related species’ “earth balls” are confirmed toxic and can “cause a kind of tetanus-like response”.

“The thing is with fungi is that unless you eat them, you’re not going to get poisoned by them. So the best thing is just to look at it and think how marvellous it is,” he said.

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