Photo by Ruby Jung. All rights reserved.

Puffballs

Puffballs are cool. Ranging in size from marble to baseball size, these odd fungi tend to pop up after summer thunderstorms.

Puffballs are edible when young. While bland and tasteless alone they tend to absorb whatever flavor they're cooked with and become delicious.

When preparing them for meals always slice them in half.

There are two danagers. The first is that a fresh, edible puffball will be smooth and white throughout with no graininess or color whatsoever. Any puffball showing color or texture should be discarded because puffballs become "poisonous" when their spores ripen and can cause severe digestive upsets. The second reason for slicing them is ensure that they actually are puffballs. Many immature mushroom species make their first appearance as small white buttons on the forest floor. The button then ruptures and the familiar gilled fungus then pops out. A number of our most toxic species superficially resemble puffballs in this button stage and the slicing reveals their presence. If in doubt, throw them out.

Puffballs, apart from their gastronomic appeal, have very limited economic use to humans. Their numerous spores were at one time used as fingerprinting dust and before electric lights replaced gaslights in theaters the spores of several species were used to simulate lightning flashes by throwing a handful of spores on a hot iron plate.

Today however their principal utility to humans, apart from recycling nutrients in forests and fields, is as a diversion for small children who never seem to tire of tapping the ripe dried husks and squealing with delight at the cloud of spores that erupt. And everything being equal that's a pretty good position to hold.

Puffballs are cool.

Offsite Link

• Missouri Mycological Society Homepage, for those devoted to mushrooms.

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