Giant Puffball

Observer: Eloise Bacher

Date: 18 September, 2008

Time: 1220-1240

Location: The Japanese Garden

Weather: Cloudy but still warm. A little bit of a breeze.

I'm sitting on a large rock in the Japanese garden, right next to a large stand of bamboo. The air feels very still right now, although occasionally a small breeze will come through. There are lots of sword ferns in here, which I hadn't noticed before. There also appears to be some kind of cedar, which has really shreddy bark, more so than cedars I've seen before. There's also a very small stooped tree, and there appears to be something white underneath it. I'm looking closer...it seems to be a really large mushroom/fungus. It's about a foot long and round, like a giant version of a puffball. Does it give off tiny spores like the little puffballs do? I want to find out, but it feels like it would be wrong to poke at it or mess it up. Looked it up...apparently it's name is the Giant Puffball (Calvatia gigantea) and it does release spores like little puffballs do, and it can grow up to 14 inches in height and width. I should come back with a tape measure and see how big this one really is, and if it's released any spores.

*Photo courtesy of http://www.richard-seaman.com/Fungus/CzechRepublic/CzechGiantPuffball.jpg