Also check out http://julesphotographiccreations.blogspot.com/
Also check out http://julesphotographiccreations.blogspot.com/
It has a distant cousin in the giant puffball of Central America.. These are said to choke nearby observers when all of the many billions of spores explode together. "
Attached a puff ball -habitat photograph and also the South east monsoon arrival we witnessed in the Western ghats- winds blowing fast and the clouds passing over us and a complete clearing in 10-15 minutes in the afternoon at 1:45PM.RegardsRaghu
From: Parjanya guru <guroo...@gmail.com>
To: nabha meghani <nabha-...@gmx.de>
Cc: raghu ananth <ragh...@yahoo.com>; indian...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, 28 July, 2009 3:58:32 PM
Subject: [indiantreepix:15003] Re: Fungus - Puffball
I too agree with Nabha..
Dear Raghu, hope you have not noticed its bursting...
There will be a large cloud of the spores, burst out even after a gentle press...
Dear all/ Tanay ji / Inderjeet ji
Forwarding this mail discussion on puff balls some time ago, again for assistance.
Am just curious to know,
If these puffballs could be narrowed down further to species level and then i could read on them/
(Pls see Sibdas ji's earlier relevant mail above on puffball kinds.
Bhimanagudda in Uttara kannada, where
these puff balls appear strewn around on the ground is in fact
frequently visited by locals, children, livestock care takers and very
rarely - trekkers. Are they harmful?
The internet links show mainly giant puff ball kinds. In what aspects do these bhimanagudda puff balls differ from the giant puffballs found in other countries.
Tanay ji,
I guess you were not part of the group at that time. thought of sharing and getting inputs from you too.
Regards
Raghu
Dear Raghu Ji,
I have gone through the complete discussion in the thread link provided by you regarding the puffball Fungi. I will briefly tell you about the toxicity of the puffball mushroom. According to the fungal classification puffball fungi belongs to the class Basidiomycetes but always regarded to have a polyphyletic origin. The euagaric (True Agaric) clade contains some 10,000 fungi in 26 families (Hibbert & Thorn, 2001, Kirk et.al 2001). Hymenia may be produced on the gills, pores and ridges of the mushrooms and on the surface of the coral shaped fruit bodies, or basidia may be enclosed in gasterocarps. in which the spores are produced internally; that is, the basidiocarp remains closed, or opens only after the spores have been released from the basidia. The spores of puffballs are statismospores rather than ballistospores, meaning they are not actively shot off the basidium. They are called puffballs because a cloud of brown dust-like spores is emitted when the mature fruiting body bursts. Puffballs and similar forms are thought to have evolved repeatedly (that is, in numerous independent events) from hymenomycetes by gasteromycetation, through secotioid stages.
Puffballs include the genera Calvatia, Calbovista, Lycoperdon. The true puffballs, of the Lycoperdales, do not consist of a visible stalk (stem). Avoid the genus Scleroderma which has a young purple gleba. The stalked puffballs, of the lycoperdales, do have a stalk which supports the gleba. None of the stalked puffballs are edible as they are tough and woody mushrooms. The Hymenogastrales are the false puffballs. A gleba which is powdery on maturity is a feature of true puffballs, stalked puffballs and earthstars. False puffballs are hard like rock or brittle. All false puffballs are inedible, as they are tough and bitter to taste.
The Giant Puffball (Langermannia gigantea) is one of North America's best-known edible wild mushrooms, particularly among farmers and other country folk. But there are several puffball species (note mostly they are considerd as culinary delicacy in Europe and America).
Puffballs are different than most mushrooms in that they lack gills or any other exterior spore-producing structures. They produce their spores internally (note: the spore-producing interior of a puffball is called the gleba) and then releasing them in astronomical numbers. The Giant Puffball, in particular, is a reproductive wonder: Specimens can attain diameters of two to three feet or more, and a single specimen has been estimated to produce as many as nine trillion spores!
Before the spores are produced, the interior of a puffball is solid and white, composed of flesh that gets less and less dense as the mushroom matures and minute air pockets form throughout. Once the gleba starts to mature, the interior flesh of a puffball becomes yellowish to greenish, at which stage it is no longer fit for consumption.
The vital field character of the Giant Puffball (and several sibling species in genus Calvatia) is its size: To rule out all other mushrooms, it should be at least four inches in diameter, growing on the ground (in the woods or on a lawn), roughly spherical as viewed from above (it may have an enlarged base, as shown in the photos), and the interior should be composed of solid, white, homogenous flesh.
The Purple-spored Puffball (Calvatia cyathiformis; see photos above and below left) is, in some areas, as common as the Giant Puffball, and many people who are oblivious of the difference between the two species; fortunately, they're both fine edibles, as is a third somewhat less common species, the Skull-shaped Puffball (Calvatia craniformis).
There are also some smaller edible puffballs, including the handsomely decorated Gem-studded Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum). Extra caution must be observed when collecting small puffballs for human consumption .
The Gem-studded Puffball's major hallmark is its covering of tiny, erect, granular "spines" that wipe off readily when the mushroom is handled. It grows on the ground, in the woods, and does not grow mostly in clusters. Each specimen should be cut in half lengthwise and closely examined to make sure it is not a button-stage
The Pear-shaped Puffball (Lycoperdon pyriforme,) grows on wood, predominately in clusters. Sometimes a single large fallen tree trunk will yield several hundred of these table-tennis-ball-sized puffballs, and they often appear on the same stump or log for several years in succession. Some specimens may be adorned with minute "spines" or granules similar to those seen on the Gem-studded Puffball, but usually not so conspicuously. As with the Gem-studded puffball, each specimen should be cut in half lengthwise and closely examined to make sure it is not a button-stage Amanita to be on the safe side, even though Amanita mushrooms do not grow on dead wood.
I
will like to say again that it is absolutely vital that puffballs, especially
the small ones, be cut in half and the interior closely examined to rule out
the presence of stalk, gills, cap, or other structural tissue differentiations
that could indicate that the mushroom is something other than a true puffball.
The big concern here is that button-stage specimens of the deadly poisonous Destroying Angel (Amanita virosa,)
and Death Cap (A. phalloides)
mushrooms look very similar to puffballs—and that's a mistake no one can
afford to make! Note the visible differentiation of the gills in the photo of
the Destroying Angel button on the right; DO NOT EAT ANY PUFFBALLS THAT SHOW SUCH DIFFERENTIATION WHEN YOU SLICE
THEM OPEN!
The possibility of confusion also exists with the Pigskin Poison Puffball (Scleroderma citrinum,). This
mushroom, while not deadly, is known to cause gastrointestinal symptoms in
those foolish enough to eat it. It can be readily distinguished from the real
thing, though: First, it has a thick, tough, rindlike exterior; second, all but
the smallest, tiniest immature specimens are purplish inside, not pure white.
Hope it will provide you with some informations and will clear your doubts about puffball mushroom.
Regards
Tanay