Wright J.E. 1987. Bibliotheca Mycologia 113: 46.

Tulostoma brumale Pers.: Pers. (Figs. 23-24; Pls. III: 1-4; XXXIII: 2) Synopsis Meth. Fung., Disp. Meth. p. 6. 1801.
= ("Fungus pulverulentus minimus" Ray, Synop. Meth. Britt. 2 ed, p. 16. 1696).
= (Lycoperdon parisiense minimum, pediculo donatum, Tournefort, Inst. Rei Herb., p. 563, tab. 331, figs. E-F, 1700).
= (Lycoperdon mammosum Michell, Nova Plant. Gen. p. 217, n° 10. 1729). =(Lycoperdon pedunculatum Linn., Fl. Suec. n° 1278. 1745).
= Tulostoma brumale Pers., Römers Neues Mag. bot. 1: 86. 1794. = T. mammosum (Mich.)Fr., Syst. Mycol. III: 42. 1821.
= Tulasnodea mammosa (Mich. ex Fr.)Fr., Summa Veg. Scand. pars 2, p. 440. 1849.
= T. pedunculatum Linn.;Schroet., in Cohn's Beitr. Biol. Pflanz. 2: 65. 1877.
= T. brevipes Petri, Ann. Mycol. 2: 418. 1904.
= T. mammosum (Mich.) Fr. var. major Petri, Fl. Ital. Critt., Gasterales p. 118. 1909.
= T. fuscoviolaceostipitatum Schwarzm. & Philimon., Fl. Spor. Rast. Kazhastan, VI: Gasteromycetes, p. 227-228, fig. 83, ab. XIV, fig. 6. 1970.

Etym.: the name applies to the season in which the species is most commonly found.

Spore-case globose to subglobose, 4-13 mm diam, usually 7-9 mm. Exoperidium membranous to submembranous, not always distinct, but generally obvious in typical collections, whitish within, light brownish to cinereous brown on the outside, sometimes with purplish hues, the external hyphae generally agglutinated with sand particles or plant debris, persistent at the base and sometimes obscuring its real nature. Endoperidium finally smooth, whitish yellow to, more commonly, orange yellow or light yellowish brown, when weathered or growing in unfavourable habitats nearly white; papyraceous tough, fragile with age and then generally discoloured towards the base or towards the mouth; in many collections with a whitish bloom. Mouth short tubular, slightly projected, with a dark peristome, its colour varying from yellowish brown to dirty brown and, sometimes, dark cinereous or ashy brown. Socket inconspicuous, appressed to the stem, with a lacerate membrane. Gleba light ochraceous. Stem 14-45 x 1.5-4 mm, most commonly straight, light coloured (usually straw yellow to light brown), often with a peculiar sheen, with a mycelial pad at the base, which is often discoid.

Exoperidium formed by thick-walled hyphae with a few conspicuous clamps. Spores yellowish, globose to subglobose, with small dispersed verrucae or tiny spines not very distinct under L.M., generally somewhat hyaline, at times coalescing in minutecristae at the base; under SEM the ornamentation appears as low or slightly elevated, isolated and dispersed verrucae of variable size; most spores fit in the 4-6 µm diam range, usually averaging 5 µm diam. Capillitium hyaline, branched, septate, (1.8)-2.8(7.2) µm diam, threads thick-walled with scant lumen to solid or lacunar, and the external surface generally covered with crystalline plaques which make them appear incrusted; many times the threads are moniliform; abruptly swollen at the numerous yellowish brown septa, the broadened portion almost square in typical specimens, up to 12 µm diam, and each side like a stirrup.

Habitat: psammophilous or humicolous, but does not grow in truly desertic zones, but rather in areas with vegetational protection, or in sandy soils among herbs, mosses, etc., generally solitary in large numbers, frequently mixed with other species in the same population, particularly with T. melanocyclum Bres.

Distribution: It is a typical European species, probably the most common one in Western Europe; judging from the record found in other regions of the world it is highly possible that it may have been introduced in them. North America: United States (Illinois, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, South Carolina, Wisconsin). South America: Argentina (Buenos Aires). ASIA: U.S.S.R. (Tiflis). Europe: Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Spain, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, U.S.S.R., Jugoslavia.

Holotype: Eight specimens annotated "circa Parisios" in Persoon's herbarium (L!). None has been annotated as "type" but several of Persoon's authentic collections agree with the generally accepted concept of the species. Illustration: Pouzar in Pilát (1958, fig. 213); Hollós (1904, pl. 11, fgigs. 18-20; pl. 12: 1).