Puff Ball Symphony: Spore expressions of a Lycoperdon

My earliest memories of #mushrooms were #puffballs when I was about 5 years of age. After the summer rains in northern #Ohio, puffballs would come up in #abundance. I remember – gleefully – stomping upon them to see explosions of brown #spores sent skyward.

My twin brother – North – and I would compete for them. We soon discovered that we could throw them at one another whereupon they would explode upon impact with a brown puff!

One day our mother, upon seeing us pelt each other, came out of the house to warn that “if the spores of puffballs got into your brother’s eyes, he could be blinded.” (This is not true.) However, with this new information, I increased my volleys of puffballs – as he did to me. Puffballs gave us little boys hours of non-harmful fun.

Puffballs depend not only upon raindrops releasing their spores upon impact, but children too! Each puffball can release billions of spores.

First Nations – particularly in the Plains of North America – discovered that puffball spores were effective for wound healing, literally packing spores into cuts to prevent infection. Other indigenous peoples have also made this discovery.

The Blackfoot Native Americans considered them as ‘fallen stars’ and often portrayed them at the base of their teepees.

Scientists again confirmed what indigenous people empirically knew: puffballs contain strong antibiotical properties. Calvacin was identified as a novel antibiotic from another puffball species. Interesting this antibiotic is topically effective but toxic when this pharmaceutical is ingested. Other more whitish and typically larger puffballs are Calvatia and Bovistella, the extracts of which have been found to be inhibitory to staph bacteria in vitro.

Another example that science confirms mushroom ‘folklore’. Our ancestors knew mushrooms were medicinally important. Necessity is the mother of invention.

Orchestrated by Pamela Kryskow, MD. {Note: Dr. Pam is not rhythmically challenged: sporulation first, music added later.]

The species is close to Lycoperdon umbrinum, aka umber brown puffball.

#mycology

Music by our friend @amanifriend
Of @desert_dwellers_music@liquidbloom & @yaimamusic