Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Large Mushroom

As promised, here is a larger mushroom.



I did not do a very good job of holding the tape. It's about 12 inches (30.5 cm) across and 11 inches (28 cm) tall. [In spite of Canada going "metric" over 30 years ago woodworkers and lumberyards still work in feet and inches so my tape is not metric.]



We had to fight with the metal tape to get it around but the circumference was about 52 inches (132 cm).



Our neighbour was impressed with the mushroom but his daughter spotted a more interesting butterfly overhead.

I almost forgot to include the name. The mushroom is a Giant Puffball (Calvatia gigantea) also known, according to my mushroom book, as (Langermannia gigantea). They are good to eat and I have eaten them in the past but we plan on just watching, and photographing, this one and its neighbour. We have two within a metre of each other. There have been others at various places on our property but sometimes we don't find them until late fall when the vegetation starts to dry and fall down. We were lucky this year.

4 comments:

robin andrea said...

Wow, Ontario Wanderer, that is quite impressive. I've never seen anything like it. We get Puffballs up here, but certainly not that big. Very cool.

Crowe said...

When we were little, dad used to collect puffballs and slice and fry them up for us. We always made him eat some first. If he was still healthy an hour later, then we'd try some :-D

But he never came home with any as humungus as that puffball of yours. I wonder what the world record size for a puffball is? Yours could be a contender.

Anonymous said...

That's quite a puffball!

What is their foundation? Do they need to have a piece of rotting wood in the soil?

Lené Gary said...

Wow! What a puffball you have there! Unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it.