So what happens after the spore mass is ejected? They germinate: Buller notes the sticky glebal mass contains spores (6-8 X 4-5 um) and gemmae which are larger than the spores and are "peculiar oval or oval-elongated cells." He and others found that the gemmae germinate easily with germ tubes sprouting from them with clamp connections (a microscopic characteristic frequently, but not always, found in basidiomycetes.) Dykstra, 1982, in his cytological examination of Sphaerobolus, also noted that the gemmae germinated but the spores did not. The gemmae were larger than the spores and were thin-walled. Spores are difficult to germinate under laboratory conditions. Buller observed that a trace of the enzyme pepsin did help some germinate, noting "This is a very significant fact in connection with the dispersion of the fungus by herbivorous animals…." The glebal masses kept dry for 11 years have been found to germinate. Dykstra examined the sticky outer wall with electron microscopy and noted it was "amorphous…material" coming from degraded cells. Buller noted the glebal mass "never becomes brittle, even when dried…..the strongest winds cannot break it into pieces" and rain did not dissolve it. But it apparently is broken down in the gut of herbivores! So, when the an animal eats some greenery with the glebal masses of gemmae and spores by the time it is redeposited out in Mother Nature it is ready to germinate!

The name Sphaerobolus stellatus is itself very descriptive. Sphaerobolus means "sphere thrower," referring to the spore mass that is forcibly shot out, and stellatus refers to the star shaped structure that's left after the spore mass has been ejected. Where does Sphaerobolus fit in the fungal classification scheme? It is a basidiomycete like Amanitas, Russulas, and Chanterelles, but these fungi are Hymenomycetes, which means that their basidiospores (the sexual spores of a basidiomycete) are forcefully ejected from each basidium (the cell where the spore is produced). Sphaerobolus is in a different (albeit artificial) class, the Gasteromycetes, along with puffballs (such as Lycoperdon and Calvatia), earthballs, such as Pisolithus tinctorius (the dog turd fungus), earth stars, and stinkhorns. In this class the spore is not actually forcefully discharged from its basidium. Microscopically you can tell this gasteromycete spore from an Amanita or Russula ballistospore (a spore which is forcefully discharged from its basidium) because the ballistospore has an asymmetrical sterigma (tiny filament from the basidium to the spore) attachment at its base. The gasteromycete sterigma attachment is either central or there are no sterigmata with the spore directly attached to the basidium. So, how does the gasteromycete spore get out into the world? Puffballs and earthballs break open and the wind blows the spores around. Earth stars unfold and the spores are dispersed by outside forces through a small pore. Stinkhorn smell bad, which attracts flies and beetles that spread the spores around.Sphaerobolus blasts its mass of thousands of tiny spores and gemmae out as a sticky spore mass called a gleba. But, although the mass of spores is forcefully ejected, the mechanism clearly is not of the basidium ejecting its individual spores as in the Hymenomycetes.