Stránka:book 1912.djvu/438

4o6 The Book of Woodcraft lliijh Oxi / AC/"!' tr Puffballs. ,;:^:fP?^ii^, Puffballs (Ly- The next im- portant and safe group are the Puffballs be- fore they begin to puff. All our puffballs when young and solid white inside are good, wholesome food. Some of them, like the Brain Puffball or the Giant Pufball, are occasionally a foot in diameter, and yield flesh enough to feed a dozen persons. They are well known to all who live in the country, their smooth, rounded exterior without special features, except the roots, and their soHd white interior are easily remem- bered. But one must take great care in gathering the very small ones as the poisonous toadstools in the button stage resemble small puffballs externally. However, a sec- tion shows the cap, stem, etc., of the former, whereas puff- balls are soHd without any obvious inner structure. The principal kinds are these: Pear Puffball {Lycoperdon pyriforme). Usually found in masses on the ground or on old timber. It is pinkish brown, and rarely over one inch in diameter. Brain Puffball {Calvatia craniiformis) . On the ground in woods. Pale grayish often with a reddish tinge, some- times wrinkled on top, sometimes smooth. Commonly six to eight inches high. Giant Puffball {Calvatia gigantea). Eight to twenty inches in diameter. Mcllvaine found one weighing nine