Spore burstMany mushrooms spread their spores by having gills under the cap where they mature before
Spore burstMany mushrooms spread their spores by having gills under the cap where they mature before being dropped to the winds, but the puffball family grows its spores in the fruiting body before splitting open and letting them float up into the air like a whiff of smoke. Many of them are edible, though as ever use caution unless you’re an expert (or live in a civilised country like France where every pharmacist by law has to be able to ID mushrooms brought in by the public). They resemble young agarics, which are lethal, and the only way to be sure is to slice them lengthways and look carefully for gills. In Tibet ground puffball ash was traditionally used as ink. There is a giant edible species that grows up to 30 cm across.LozImage credit: Martin Pfister/Kalyanvarmahttp://bit.ly/1d6r9vw -- source link
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