The Giant Puffball is a spectacular mushroom due to its size 4 6, which can exceed thirty cm in diameter and its colour, a dramatic white that contrasts with the environment and draws the eye. It is considered a good edible with some therapeutic properties. The Giant Puffball is found everywhere in Quebec – to the far north, in fields and on the edges of deciduous or mixed forests. It fructifies in August and early September.

It is amazing that such a big fruit body should be attached to the mycelium in the soil by such a small stem 5. It is also surprising that a single mycelium can provide such a quantity of organic matter 3 4 in the space of a few days. The surface of the fruit bodies is smooth 1 and sometimes marked by small depressions.

At first, the flesh is firm and perfectly white, as shown in the photo 4 7. Refrigerated almost to the point of freezing, it can be kept in good condition for four to six days. Once the flesh begins to change colour 8, the fruit bodies are no longer edible. In the field, this loss of edibility can occur within a few days.

The photos at the bottom show the loss of edibility over a period of eighteen days 7 8 9 while the fruit is being stored in a cold room. When ripening is complete, the interior is black and the fruit body has lost volume; the spores escape through an opening at the top.

Photos: Fernand Miron, Marcel Otis.