Giant+Puffball

The Calvatia gigantea is commonly known as the giant puffball. Its phylum is Basidiomycota, which is one of the two "higher" or more advanced fungi phyla. The members of this phylum grow hyphae and reproduce sexually by special cells that bear spores.

Giant Puffball [Electronic Image]. Retrieved November 13, 2010, from:

The giant puffball is a white, round spherical fungus that is green-brown on the inside and has no stalk, like many other fungi do. It is edible, and typically found in soils, like those of scrubs and woodland edges, that are rich in nutrients. A normal "adult size" giant puffball is about 50 cm in diameter, but their sizes have been recorded up to 150 cm across. To reproduce, these puffballs grow spores inside their bodies. One giant puffball can produce as many as 7 trillion spores.

The large size of the giant puffball allows it to create a huge number of spores and store them in its body. This large number uses the concept of quantity over quality. The spores' germination rate is less than 0.001%, so even that small portion of spores is a large number that germinates. Another adaptation is its method of dispersion of spores. The fungus does not open up like a fan or a bowl to release spores, like many other fungi do. When its spores are ready to be released, the previously white insides will dry up, so the spores will be loose from the insides of the puffball. The top of the ball cracks open when it is ripe, and a small opening appears, and when any kind of pressure is put onto the ball, it will "puff", like the name implies, its spores into the air. The fact that these fungi do not have spores is also a very clever suitable adaptation because it allows them to be close to the ground. This way they can easily be moved and startled by other travelling animals, releasing spores.

Giant puffballs live generally in at the edges of forested areas, or in meadows. They cannot survive well in heavily canopied areas or areas with lots of trees that take up lots of nutrients because it itself is a large organism, and to build up this large organism, it needs lots of rich soil and nutrients in order to flourish. Meadows and open areas generally have much richer soil than forested areas simply because the grasses and organisms that live there have shorter life cycles, so there is always lots of detritus, which rots, making lots of nutrients readily available. In forested areas, the large trees take most of the nutrients, so the rotting detritus and nutrients are not as readily available as they are in open fields and meadows.

Calvatia gigantea generally lives in areas of temperate climate, and has also been found in the British Isles.

Something to keep in mind is that even though these fungi are edible, be sure to check its insides before eating it. Before it is mature for reproduction, it will be a pure white colour, but after it is older, the insides will start becoming yellow-ish and brown. Then it is too late to eat it.

Russell, J. Giant Puffball [Electronic Image]. Retrieved November 13, 2010, from: []

The Giant Puffball [Electronic Image]. Retrieved November 13, 2010, from: []

Here's a little video to show you just how many spores there are in a giant puffball: media type="youtube" key="iPO4Rry4m4U?fs=1" height="385" width="480"

To give you an idea of the possible sizes of giant puffballs: media type="youtube" key="z3bMDr-WLCs?fs=1" height="385" width="480"

Its full taxonomy: Fungi Basidiomycota Agaricomycetes Agaricales Lycoperdaceae Calvatia gigantea


 * Kew**. (2010). //Calvatia gigantea (giant puffball).// Retrieved November 13, 2010, from: []


 * Kuo, M**. (2008, November). //Puffballs//. Retrieved from the //MushroomExpert.Com// Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/puffballs.html


 * Wikipedia**. //Basidiomycota//. From Wikipedia. Retrieved November 13, 2010, from: []


 * Wikipedia**. (2010). //Calvatia gigantea//. Retrieved November 13, 2010, from: []