Brown Puffball vs Castor

Bovista nigrescens compared with Ricinus communis

Key Differences

Brown Puffball is Least Concern while Castor is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Brown Puffball	Castor
Kingdom	Fungi (Fungi)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)	Malpighiales (Malpighiales)
Family	Lycoperdaceae	Euphorbiaceae
Genus	Bovista	Ricinus
Species	Bovista nigrescens	Ricinus communis

Conservation Status

Brown Puffball

LC — Least Concern

Castor

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Brown Puffball	Castor
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Brown Puffball

Habitat

Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Castor

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, flooded grasslands and savannas, and montane grasslands and shrublands, among 7 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (33 countries), Asia (26 countries), Europe (23 countries), North America (15 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (14 countries), and South America (12 countries).

Brown Puffball

The Brown Puffball (Bovista nigrescens) is a species in the genus Bovista. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Castor

The Castor (Ricinus communis) is a species in the genus Ricinus. Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, flooded grasslands and savannas, and montane grasslands and shrublands, among 7 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and hi