Podaxis pistillaris

This is a one of the powdery-spored, somewhat puffball-like fungi. The fruitbody consists of a whiteish, somewhat woody stem, at the top of which is the powdery spore mass, initially within a narrow, elongated whiteish ‘cap’. The cap is papery, usually with shaggy scales and breaks away to expose the spore mass for wind dispersal. The whole fruitbody may grow to 20 centimetres tall.

You can see a fairly fresh fruitbody here (https://www.anbg.gov.au/fungi/images-captions/podaxis-pistillaris-0071.html) and variously aged ones here (https://www.anbg.gov.au/fungi/images-captions/podaxis-pistillaris-0072.html).

The fruitbodies appear on the soil and this species is found in many countries, commonly in arid areas.

Look-alikes

The larger Podaxis beringamensis is found growing from termite nests in Northern Australia. There are several other ‘stemmed puffball’ genera but the narrow, elongated cap makes the genus Podaxis easy to recognize.