Initially white in color, the puffballs turn a dark brown as they mature, at the same time changing from nearly round to somewhat flattened.

Young specimens of L. echinatum resemble another edible spiny puffball, Lycoperdon pulcherrimum, but the latter species does not turn brown as it ages.

He thought it worthy of status as a species distinct from L. gemmatum because of the different character of its warts, its much spinier appearance, and the smoother surface of the peridium underneath the spines.

[4] Miles Joseph Berkeley and Christopher Edmund Broome wrote of the fungus in 1871, but believed their specimen, collected from Reading, Berkshire, by Hoyle, represented a new species, which they called Lycoperdon Hoylei.

[15] In previous analyses that used only the rRNA sequences for phylogenetic comparison, L. echinatum formed a clade with L. mammiforme, L. foetidum, and Bovistella radicata (now known as Lycoperdon radicatum[16]), but separate from L. pyriforme.

The fruit body has a small base that is an off-white or purple-gray color,[21] and it may be attached to the growing surface by thin white cords (rhizomorphs).

[26] This species has a mild taste, and no distinguishable odor,[21] although one source describes the smell of dried fruit bodies as similar to "old ham".

[27] One source notes that it is "well flavoured and tender when cooked",[19] while another describes the texture (of edible puffballs in general) as "somewhat like French toast".

[28] To avoid possible confusion with potentially deadly Amanita species, it is recommended to slice young puffballs with a longitudinal cut to ensure that the flesh is devoid of any internal structures.

It typically grows on the ground in deciduous forests and grassy areas, glades and pastures, on moss, humus, or woody debris.

[33] This species has been collected from eastern central Africa,[34] China,[35] Costa Rica,[36] Iran,[37] Japan,[38] and Europe (including Britain,[39] Bulgaria,[40] the Czech Republic,[41] Finland,[42] Germany,[43] Italy,[44] Slovakia,[45] Spain,[46] Sweden,[47][48] and Switzerland[49]).

[50] Using a standard laboratory method to determine antimicrobial susceptibility, methanol-based extracts of Lycoperdon umbrinum fruit bodies were shown in a 2005 study to have "significant" antibacterial activity against various human pathogenic bacteria, including Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Mycobacterium smegmatis.