Over the years I have read various accounts about puffball mushrooms. Some kinds are supposed to be edible when young. Others or overly mature individuals don’t even think about eating. In July a crop of puffballs appeared in our front yard. They were on the small side and had a rough, white exterior. Based on images I found online, they appeared to be a Lycoperdon species, perhaps the gem-studded puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum). I picked one and it had a pleasant smell. So why not try to eat one? That’s a bit like saying “Hey watch this”!
Retired
University of Florida mycologist Dr. Jim Kimbrough once told me to parboil
mushrooms of unknown edibilty, just to lessen any possible poison. So I cut the puffball in half from top to
bottom. It was very white inside. So far, so good. I placed the two halves in a small pot of water
and adjusted the gas flame to medium.
The two pieces of puffball floated like they were made of
Styrofoam. Even after boiling for 10
minutes, they still floated as before.
I cooled one of the halves. The
lower “stem” part definitely looked cooked, but the rest did not show much change. I ate the piece of puffball plain. No butter.
No salt. It did not have much
taste.
Then
we had dinner and all seemed to be going well.
However, about an hour and a half later, I had to run to toilet. There wasn’t any nausea, or stomach ache problem,
or anything else. I just had to poop
really bad. The poop moved rapidly from
intestine to toilet. After that, all
else was okay. I did not feel sick in any
way. Nothing else happened. My liver was not destroyed and I did not die
an agonizing death several days later. But
be careful when eating wild mushrooms!
Based
on this very personal experience, I would not recommend eating gem-studded
puffballs. Perhaps there is some
medicinal value though, like if you’re not getting enough fiber?
Below: A clump of puffballs as they age. Photos taken 1-2 days apart.