Calvatia gigantean, more commonly know as the giant puffball. The giant puffball is a mushroom that is part of the kingdom fungi. Its phylium is basidiomycota. The class of the giant mushroom is agaricomcetes and its order is agaricales. The giant puffballs family is agaricaceae and its genus is calvatia. (5) Giant puffballs appear to be white and round shape, or almost oval in some cases. The calvatia gigantea can be found in central or eastern USA and Canada. These mushrooms are usually found to be growing to their full potential in the fall. They are fruiting bodies that have spores. The calvatia gigantean grows mainly directly off of the earth, but it also can grow of trees. The name giant puffballs is a little deceiving because these mushrooms are not always giant, they can be as small as a golf ball, or they can be as large as a basketball. “A big specimen of the giant puffball can be almost two feet long and contain seven 7,000,000,000,000 spores” (1). The puffball is full of spores that can be found to be very useful. The mushroom cracks open to have the wind take the spores away. However, some puffballs don’t crack open to have the wind take away the spores, some puffballs have a opening on them which is where the spores are released. The spores are about “3.5 to 5.5 microns in diameter”. (1) These spores are what make the giant puffballs like a big sack of powder, because the spores are extremely dry. The giant puffball mushroom is one of many mushrooms that can be consumed by humans and other creatures and prove to be beneficial to your health. Some mushrooms on the other hand can prove to be detrimental to your health if consumed. One interesting thing about the giant puffball is the fact that it has been known to have anticancer attributes, however it was never confirmed until a group of scientists confirmed it last year in 2012. (3) When the puffball first starts to grow it appears to be white colored, however, when it starts to grow older, the color of the giant puffball turns to be more yellow or brown. When the puffball turns brown or yellow, this is when it isn’t edible. (2) If the puffball isn’t brown or yellow, then it is known to be one of the better tasting mushrooms. The calvatia gigantean are decomposers. The giant puffballs break down dead wood or other material and ingest it into their constituents and they then use these materials for growth. (4). Giant puffballs decompose their food in order to regrow.
The puffball can prove to be extremely useful if you know how to use it. For example say someone was to get hurt in the woods hunting or something of the sort, and they had a cut that they didn’t have anything to stop the bleeding, they could use the powder or spores in the giant puffballs to apply to the wound and stop the bleeding. This is rarely used in today’s world because there are so many other things that can be used to stop bleeding, however back in the day, the Native Americans and many other people would use the powder from the giant puffball to apply to injuries. (1) Also, if someone were to ever got lost in the woods and there just happened to be giant puffballs around, the mushroom is a good source of nutrition. (6) The giant puffball has numerous uses, however, it can be toxic if someone doesn’t know how to use it.
2.) Krieger.1967.The Mushroom Handbook. New York, N.Y. Dover Publications, Inc.
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3.) Lemieszek M, Rzeski W. Anticancer properties of polysaccharides isolated from fungi of the basidiomycetes class. Wspólczesna Onkologia 2012;16(4):285.
4.) "Puffball Overview." Foraging With the "Wildman". Web. 30 Jan. 2013. .
5.) Royal Bionic Gardens. Calvatia gigantea (giant puffball). 2013 January 29 http://www.kew.org/plants-fungi/Calvatia-gigantea.htm 6.) Sarnacki A. Foraging for fungi, from maine to mario land. McClatchy - Tribune Business News. 2012 Oct 03;.
