Century Ride & Giant Puffballs

[mtbturtle]

How was your labor day weekend?

I did a 60 mile (100 km) road - bike path - ride with a group of people. It threatened rain, and it looked like we weren't going to do it or make it through but we hung in there. The weather cleared up it and turned into a nice early fall day. It only spit rain at us for a few miles thankfully. At the halfway point we stopped at a nice restaurant and stuffed ourselves with a wonderful Sunday brunch. The ride back was slower paced since we were full and obviously tired from the ride out. The slower pace and not being so focused on the food waiting at the end of the path allowed us to look around more. AND we were rewarded with a mushroom find. We found a small patch of softball size puffballs and then a little further down the path a GIANT puffball. It weighs 3.5 lb and is bigger than my head!

[img:240:207]http://upload4.postimage.org/1045541/giantpuffball.jpg[/img]

[BioWizard]

I want a DNA sample!

[Silkworm]

Christ, that is a big one. Any idea what it is?

[mtbturtle]

Christ, that is a big one. Any idea what it is?

It is a GIANT puffball mushroom.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_puffball

The Giant puffball (Calvatia gigantea) is a puffball mushroom commonly found in meadows, fields, and deciduous forests worldwide usually in late summer and autumn. Most giant puffballs grow to be 10 to 70 cm in diameter, although occasionally some can reach diameters up to 150 cm and weights of 20 kg. The large white mushrooms are edible when young and some claim the meat tastes very similar to tofu when cooked. To prepare, remove any brown portions and tough skin if necessary; do not soak in water. Puffballs may be sauteed, broiled, or breaded and fried; they do not dehydrate well, but may be cooked and then frozen.

All members of the true puffball family are considered edible, but be sure to cut the young ones open to make sure there are no gills hidden inside. The deadly amanitas have a volva or "universal veil" that completely envelopes the young mushrooms. Before bursting forth from the volva, they look like little round puffball mushrooms. You have to cut open each little puffball to make sure there are no gills inside.

Additionally, puffballs resemble the earthball (Scleroderma citrinum). The latter are distinguished by a much firmer, elastic fruiting body, and as an interior that becomes dark purplish-black with white reticulation early in development.

The fruiting body of a puffball mushroom will develop within the period of a few weeks and soon begin to decompose and rot, at which point it should not be consumed. Unlike most mushrooms, all the spores of the giant puffball are created inside the fruiting body; large specimens can easily contain several trillion spores. Spores are yellowish, smooth and 3 to 5 micrometres in size. The dry spores can be used as a coagulant to help stop bleeding.

The classification of this species has been revised in recent years, as the formerly recognised class Gasteromycetes, which included all puffballs, has been found to be polyphyletic. Some authors place the giant puffball and other members of genus Calvatia in order Agaricales. Also, the species has in the past been placed in two other genera, Lycoperdon and Langermannia.

[mtbturtle]

How often do you get to ask, how thick would you like your mushroom steak?

Before grilling

[img:240:270]http://upload4.postimage.org/1047765/shroomsraw.jpg[/img]

Mmmmmmm GIANT puffball goodnessssssss

looks a little darker than it was. it was crispy crunch on the outside - perfectly charred and still creamy smooth on the instead.

[img:240:270]http://upload4.postimage.org/1047769/shroomscooked.jpg[/img]


beer and shrooms life is good :)

How was your holiday?

[BioWizard]

Holy crap, that looks delicious. Let's see if you transform into some sort of a gigantic mutant ninja turtle after eating that.

[Havok]

:shock: That looks delicious! Lucky you!

[Eadaoine]

hi guys, im a 4th yr college student doin a project on the giant puffball. was just wonderin does anyone know why it changed to Calvatia gigantea from Langermannia gigantea? or what weather it grows best in ? or ne other unusual or useful information ... thanks x

[mtbturtle]

hi guys, im a 4th yr college student doin a project on the giant puffball. was just wonderin does anyone know why it changed to Calvatia gigantea from Langermannia gigantea? or what weather it grows best in ? or ne other unusual or useful information ... thanks x

Hi Eadaonine and Welcome to the Forums :)

I have no idea. Most of what I know about the it was from the wiki article linked in the other post. If you find out make sure to let us know and share more details about your project.

btw did this post turn up in a google search or something? is that what lead you here? :)

Good luck on the project and make sure to check out the other forum areas.

[PeSla]

Ahhh, memories of childhood where we found and ate them all the time along the tidewaters of virginia.

Around Springfield Illinois I also discovered the inky caps and made a fine series of omletes.

It was great you showed the caution on the smaller ones mtbturtle... (hey I didnt know you make that 60km ride, was that the day I posted on the special mechanism for uphill climbing? [reply in the chatroom :-)]

One should not eat too many of the shelf fungus as it can thin the blood, but all are edible.

Btw there are many reasons not to eat turtles other than that they grow extinct like the carolina brackish water terrapin, sea turtles now contain far too many pollutants (newscientist.com) but the lowly carolina box turtle has been known to be responsible for he death of miners on their lunch breaks because these creatures enjoy and are immune to some of the most poison of mushrooms.

[galatomic]

[img:240:222]http://upload4.postimage.org/1417095/GiantPuffball.jpg[/img]

[mtbturtle]

Gala!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL

thanks for the laugh :))


Pesla, I did that ride Labor Day. I didn' t know if I could do it either! Up until then the longest ride I had done was around 40 miles.

Alas it looks as if the riding season is over.

[galatomic]

I knew you would take it with a sense of humor.

Just having some fun here.