Edible, wild fungi of South Australia post #7 Puffballs

avatar
(Edited)

Hi everybody! Here's number #7 in this early season ID guide for South Australian edible mushrooms. This one is about some of the Puffballs that you can find around the place. I've dealt with the Rhizopogon (False Truffles) Puffballs in a separate post because they are the only local variety to only be found in Pine forests. The others can be found in a variety of terrains.



Puffballs (Calvatia, Bovista, Lycoperdon, Vascellum)








Phylum: Basidiomycota. Class: Agaricomycetes. Order: Agaricales. Family: Agaricaceae

There are several different species that go by the common name of ‘Puffball’. These include Calvatia, Bovista, Lycoperdon and Vascellum spp.

Puffballs are so called because of their roughly spherical shape and because when the spores are released or the ball is broken, the spores puff out in a cloud – the ‘puff’.

Interestingly, these spores have a medicinal use in herbalism. They are water repellent and when applied to weeping wounds and sores, help to repel the moisture and dry the wound. They can form a protective, water repellent crust over a wound – a natural bandage.

All South Australian puffballs are edible if their flesh inside is a soft, white mass. As it matures, the inside of the Puffball will turn from white and marshmallowy (is that a word?) to a brown colour and will harden. Once that starts to happen, it becomes practically inedible. If you pick one that is brown, don’t try to eat it.

There are several species with brown/black flesh that are inedible but at no stage of their life do they have white flesh inside them.



A *Calvatia*


Puffballs grow in as many types of location as there are species. They grow in lawns (loving ovals and sports fields), on straw in our garden (they seem to love the Mugwort patch), at the sides of paths and in woodlands. I must say that those found in grass taste the best. You can see puffballs sometimes pushing up through bitumen and even cement! I read once that the growing tips of the hyphae, microscopic though they are, can put out 10 X the pressure that’s in an average car tyre. That’s 300 psi! WOW!


Puffballs in our garden, probably light coloured Vascellum.


Identifying Puffballs – summary

If you see a white globe that you're sure isn’t a golf ball, look for these details –

  • Round, or globular shape (may be mildly deformed)
  • 2 – 10 cm in diameter (Calvatia can apparently get to softball size)
  • White to light brown colour skin both outside and in
  • Bovista have an outer coating which flakes off in pieces leaving a smooth skin capsule. They also have a root-like attachment.
  • Lycoperdon have an upside-down pear or club shape
  • Vascellum have powdery outer coating which rubs off easily.
  • There may be spines or scales, warts or even cracks but as long as the skin is unbroken, it’s OK.
  • When cut, the inside is soft, white and marshmallow-like
  • There is no sign of the word ‘Spalding’. If there is, you have a golf ball!

If you find a mushroom that fits the above requirements, you have yourself a Puffball!

Caution: Though it is fun to get an older Puffball to puff, don’t inhale the spores. They are water repellent and can coat your upper respiratory tract possibly causing discomfort, breathing difficulties and coughing and asthmatic symptoms. This holds true for any mushroom but is especially true of Puffballs because of the way the spores burst out in a puff.




5tbq4JHXhN.png









}

2bP4pJr4wVimqCWjYimXJe2cnCgnKs3wptdZXs8iWD4.webp

VhEcYhIfkj.png




5tbq4JHXhN.png









}

2bP4pJr4wVimqCWjYimXJe2cnCgnKs3wptdZXs8iWD4.webp

VhEcYhIfkj.png



0
0
0.000
3 comments
avatar

Very interesting post!

!1UP

0
0
0.000
avatar
Don-1UP-Cheers-Cartel-250px.png

You have received a 1UP from @luizeba!

The following @oneup-cartel family members will soon upvote your post:
@ctp-curator, @ccc-curator, @stem-curator, @vyb-curator, @pob-curator
And they will bring !PIZZA 🍕

Learn more about our delegation service to earn daily rewards. Join the family on Discord.

0
0
0.000