giant puffball mushrooms
Elaine Goulet’s granddaughters pose with the giant puffball mushrooms they found near her hunting shack in Big Falls. From the left are Reina, Emma and Teah Goulet.
Giant puffball mushrooms are said to be some of the most tasty and fun to cook mushrooms found in the woods. In the northeast, they commonly grow in the early fall on the edge of forests, in open woods, grassy fields, parks and meadows. The Cornell Mushroom Blog says is not unusual to find them growing in fairy rings or as single specimens. A mushroom can easily be identified as a giant puffball by its giant size, shallow craters, misshapen spherical shape, lack of a stipe (stem), bright smooth white skin with irregular cracks at maturity. “But caution must be taken because it can easily be mistaken for volleyballs or soccer balls that have been left in fields or lost in the woods,” notes the blog. The largest ever recorded giant puffball was eight feet, eight inches in diameter and weighed 48 pounds. The blog goes on to say the mushroom is edible when immature and the inside is pure white and has the texture of marshmallow. Once mature the inside color changes to yellow and brown and it should not be eaten at this stage because of its poor taste and possible toxicity. In addition to a change in color the inside flesh becomes powdery at maturity due to the spores and capillitium (sterile threads that hold the spores).
