Archive - Giant Puffball

Each Sunday we present a notable item from our archives. This EPOD was originally published October 23, 2002.

Provided by: Martin Ruzek, USRA
Summary authors & editors: Martin Ruzek

Neither plant nor animal, fungi quietly do their work at the base of the ecosystem, along with bacteria, to break down complex organic compounds into simpler building blocks. The autumn woods are home to this curiously spherical example of fungal recycling - the giant puffball (Calvatia gigantea). Fungi have no chlorophyll, as this pale specimen can attest, and draw their nutrients from other organic matter. The puffball at this stage with firm white flesh is still immature, and quite a delicacy sliced and fried in butter and onions. As the mushroom matures, its flesh becomes brown, olive green and dries to a spongy powdery consistency - a massive fruiting body waiting to be kicked to produce a puff of billions of single-celled spores to carry on as next year's crop.

Related Links:

• More about Puffballs
• Tom Volk's Fungi Page
• Forest Fungi and Ecosystem Management