Collected under/near Quercus palustra (Eastern Red oak). Has been growing now for nearly 1 month, possibly a little longer. One of the hardest to identify species for me, as it is atypical for many Sclerodermas: it has a soft, puffball-like gleba, not hard; the gleba is grayish instead of purple; It has sometimes a distinctive yellowish to yellow-tinted base, quite tough and fibrous, with rhizomorphs extending outward everywhere. This particular collection is bound for bioremediation at a EPA Superfund cleanup site along the Willamette River in downtown Portland. Why? Sclerodermas are currently considered poisonous, in part because they concentrate heavy metals, such as mercury and lead.