Calvatia cyathiformis
As the rains come, the season to find these common edible puffballs strewn about your lawn or the nearest field abounds.
This genus of edible puffball is Calvatia which includes the famous (in the mushroom world) giant puffball, which can be the size of a dog…you wouldn’t miss that one.
Most Calvatia species are edible as long as the inside is pure white; I am not aware of any that aren’t. They tend to tinge green, purple, or brown as they age, which actually the mushroom is turning its own flesh into spores. It’s sort of a self-destruct unit. By that time the mushroom is too old and you can mark that spot to know that the next time it rains they have a habit to return to that general area. There are also several edible Lycoperdon species (about 50), and the same is generally true for them, however, in this article we will only cover Calvatia.
Spores being dispersed by the wind
Calvatia are fairly easy to identify as long as you know these mushrooms are in a specific class which have no gills inside, they are just fluff all throughout which later turns itself into its own spores, which then are released with the help of an animal, or human who can’t resist smushing or kicking it, and are dispersed by the wind.
Notice how there are no gills, and its pure white
If you cut them open and you saw what resembled gills, then be aware that there are poisonous mushrooms such as the death cap, Amanita phalloides, which can and has been confused for puffballs. But it would be a long shot if you’re actually paying attention to what you’re doing. The trick is to realize that all mushrooms with stems and gills begin as a tightly knit ball with all of the parts inside of it, similar to an embryo, and can be mistaken for a puffball from the outside – this is why it is important to slice it in half.
Poison Pigskin Puffball – Scleroderma aurantium
A similar looking yet poisonous puffball is called the poison pigskin puffball (Scleroderma aurantium). Notice the genus (the first name) is not Calvatia. You can tell this mushroom right away by your miraculous gift of the sense of touch (No poisonous mushroom harms people by touch). While C. cythaformis is relatively smooth to the touch, the poison pigskin puffball actually is rough to the touch, i.e. the serrated marks actually stick out on the poison pigskin puffball. Another way to tell the difference between these 2 is to slice them open. The poison pigskin puffball is black colored on the inside.
Poisonous Scleroderma species – See black inside
Calvatia – Note the yellow tinge – slightly too old
The [correctly identified] puffball mushroom cooked properly makes a great meal. It makes a great tofu replacement in a stir-fry, or a cheese crumble in any baked dish like lasagna. They fry up in no time and taste a bit cheesy and like tofu, they really absorb the flavor of whatever you cook them with. I’ve even seen them battered and used as “hot wings” and puffball parmigiana recipes are all over the internet.
Always make sure you have the right mushroom and consult a professional before you eat anything, you could die. And if you think you have found it you can always email any pictures to me at Dan@returntonature.us to confirm your finds, but make sure you send clear pics of a cross section of inside the mushroom.
Happy and Safe Foraging.
Dandelion
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we just picked some puffballs from the yard and they tasted great. our first time eating them.
YUM =) hopefully you lived to see this hah
Just found 2 giant puffballs, one the size of a soccer ball, the other bigger than a basketball!! Fried up the small one, about the size of a baseball, it was delicious, Got a question, can I freeze the large ones?? I have sliced them, & have 5, one gallon freezer sacks full . help! PZBSOCK
most mushrooms dont freeze well, you have to parboil first
Thanks for your help Dan! When I found what I thought to be a Puffball mushroom and Googled ‘Puffball mushrooms’, your site was very helpful. Thanks for getting back to me so quickly about my questions and confirming that I had a Puffball mushroom through the pictures I sent you. My roommate and I fried it up with butter, salt and pepper and it was very tasty. Now I’m confident I will be able to identify them when I find more.
So great to hear of your beautiful success eating from the wild! Always be careful, slow and steady wins the race !
I woud like to know what causes these mushrooms to grow all the sudden in places they never grew before? We have found one or two in the last few years and they have gron virtually the same place every year. This year however, they are all over the place! We’ve gone from 1 or 2 to over 30 of the things and counting! We’ve had a very dry year here in Wisconsin and have only hd a few good rain showers in the last couple of weeks. I noticed earlier in the year, and years past, that rings form in the grass. This year there were several rings that were noticeable because they wee darker then the rest of the grass. I couldn’t figure out what was going on, I had never seen anything like this before. When I took my dogs out Friday to play I noticed a huge ring down across the yard. I walked down there and saw these mushrooms all around the ring I then started noticeing them growing all over as I walk around the yard. They were everywhere! I have lived here over 30 years and have never seen anything like this before! This was once a dairy far years ago, now the only being raised are the dirt mounds from either gophers or woodchucks, or whatever makes the mounds! Whatever they are they are also taking over the yard! Could they have anything to do with the sudden growth of mushrooms around the place?
each mushroom releases millions of microscopic spores that are carried by the wind. And rain helps to saturate them into mycelium, then the right conditions of moisture and sunlight causes “mushrooms” which are the fruiting body of an underground network that is connected to and grows in symbiosis with plants and trees, sending and sharing chlorophyll and other nutrients among the forest as the forest healer.
Hi Dan,
We have what appears to be the puffballs on our yard. We are new to the whole notion of foraging and thus feel uneasy consuming something other then chanterelles or lobster mashrooms. Accidentally I came across your web-site and really liked it. Would you be able to confirm that what we think is the puffball is indeed the puffball? Can I send you the picture of it? Your help will be greatly appreciated.
feel free to email at dan@returntonature.us with 1. a picture of the mushroom in its habitat, and 2. a cross section of the mushroom sliced in half.
I found several Calvatias in my yard and can’t wait to feast on them! It is fun to see them pop up suddenly!
Yes, the mycelium has been there for years! And it just takes the right condition for them to produce what is called their “fruiting body”
I used to pick mushrooms with my mother years ago but now that she has passed I no longer trust myself to identify some of the mushrooms. I believe your website will be very helpful to me.
Really great to hear! This is a sad reality that it’s being lost only in recent generations. This is why I believe this work to be so important, lost knowledge of the land and how to live upon it is very hard to get back.
It may not be that all Pig Skins are rough. I found and took pictures of puffballs that are smooth, but have shapes, sizes, tough skins and interiors just like the Scleroderma aurantium depicted.
Its true, the article needs to be updated… also when scleroderma is VERY young it is white on the inside.
I found what I thought to be a giant puffball in my front lawn. Very large (6″ diameter), white and mostly cylindrical. When I cut it open, the interior had a yellowish tinge and was literally soggy. I could ring liquid out! There was also small sign of a developing stem structure.
When in doubt, throw it out. But now I’m sitting here not eating puffball and wondering if I just threw a water logged puffball in the trash. We haven’t had rain in my area for about 4 days. Would a puff hold on to that much liquid for that long?
Please always remember to put it back into nature, it feeds and nourishes millions of things.
Yes that sounds pretty old, but remember to always take wild plants and mushrooms back outside. Biomass is important to preserve, for all wildlife included. Instead of losing it to toxic garbage dumps
Great photos and article. I am so happy to find these puffball mushrooms in my yard. I haven’t feasted on one since I was a kid and my Mother cooked them up. Now I am in my sixties and never forgot how much I loved harventing and eating them. The only ones I have seen since I was a child were too far gone when I found them and all grew in graveyards, which I thought was a bit creepy.
Glad to hear your beautiful story ! Keep on seeking the wild wisdom!
My son was so excited to make his first puffball find in the backyard and now there’s a bunch of gem-studded puffballs coming up in the front! We have them bagged up in the fridge but I realized the lawn was sprayed with lawn chemicals maybe a month ago. I am having trouble finding information on how long that would affect the soil and mushrooms that are popping up. This is the first time we’ve had mushrooms coming up in the lawn (and the first year that we’ve been sprayed albeit against our will). Any advice on if they might be safe or if we have to chuck them? And if not safe, do you think it would it be possible to let the new ones go to spore and try to transport them to a non-pesticide affected location?
Sadly it would effect the lawn for years, it’s very toxic and persistent. But the same is true for conventional food, and even organic foods. Be mindful and cautious but always consider what has become normal daily “food ” in our society
As far as transferring them, you could surely try it
Hi Dan, thanks for the article. I have never before been told there is a poisonous puffball. Everyone says they are all edible. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I have a very small amount of Calvatia spores. I’ve read they could go in the lawn and others say a deciduous woods. I live in such a woods and have a very large lawn. Some articles say it’s easy to get them to take, others say it’s impossible. What would your advice be? Thanks in advance.
Hey Ben, The only thing you can do is try! Its anyones guess you know?
I would say that the closer you can let it be as it is in nature, the closer you will get to success. So maybe that means leaving them where they are and kicking them around to spread them once they are sporulating. If you have one you might want to throw it onto the ground somewhere, they seem to like lawns better than the forest.