Lycoperdon cyathiforme Bosc 1811
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Calvatia cyathiformis (Bosc) Morgan 1890 Purple spored puffball
These puffballs are common across much of central and eastern North America. Identification: Fruiting bodies are large, 3-7" (8-17 cm) high and 3-8" (8-20 cm) around, roughly spherical or pear-shaped, with a narrowed base. (The largest puffball known was 4 feet across, weighing close to 50 pounds!) Sliced in half, you can see the difference between the rounded top, which will become a huge mass of spores, and the base. The spore-bearing top, called the gleba, starts out brownish, later becoming purple. The top can be smooth or scaly. If you have a microscope handy, the spores are purple, 0.1-0.2 mils (3-6 µm) in size, covered with spines ~0.0 mils (?-1 µm) long. Once spores have formed, the interior of the gleba somewhat resembles chocolate cake in color and consistency. Edibility: Harvested before they darken, when they are white all the way through when cut, these puffballs are edible. Make sure they are at least the size of an orange, to avoid confusing them with something poisonous. Several sources say they lack flavor of their own, but absorb other flavors well. Online References:
Michael Kuo's MushroomExpert.com Tom Volk's Fungi site, at the Department of Biology at the University of Wisconsin Mushroom-Collecting.com, a New England and Eastern Canada Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms site Medicinal Mushrooms: Investigating Bioactive Compounds from Kingdom Fungi
8/9/2023 · Houghton Graves Park, Harpswell, Maine · By Priscilla Seimer
Calvatia cyathiformis description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 17 Aug 2021.
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8/9/2023 · Houghton Graves Park, Harpswell, Maine · By Priscilla Seimer
8/9/2023 · Houghton Graves Park, Harpswell, Maine · By Priscilla Seimer
7/29/2023 · Houghton Graves Park, Harpswell, Maine · By Priscilla Seimer
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