Northern Bushcraft

Common Puffball

  • fruiting body is up to 6 cm broad, pear-shaped, white to dull white, with small conical spines that break off but leave a network of spots behind.
  • flesh must be firm and all-white.
  • flesh must be undifferentiated with no trace of gills, no thick rind and no outline of mushroom visible in cross section.
  • appears in the summer and fall.
  • taste is mild, no odor; cook before eating.
  • grows singly, in groups or clumped together on forest beds under conifers and hardwoods.
  • warning: do not confuse with young, white, button-stage mushrooms, some of which can be deadly poisonous. Button-stage mushrooms differ in that they exhibit faint differentiation when cut in half, rather than being solid white.
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Related topics: Edible Plants of PE - Edible Berries of PE - Edible Mushrooms of PE
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