laurie (Mother Mastiff) wrote:

I found a weird thing growing under my daphne. It is three inches
across (about the size of my fist), it is hard on the outside and has
brown powder (spores?) on the top.

Emily,

It looks like a puff-ball fungus. That's a relative of a mushroom, but
more or less spherical, and when it matures, the interior is filled with
spores,
which are spread far and wide when you go over it with a mower. The
unusually wet weather is encouraging the growth of more shrooms and fungi
of all kinds.

It isn't toxic, but I wouldn't recommend inhaling the spores!

Actually, I believe most puffballs are quite edible [check before
experiemnting] - I've nibbled at a few, but they are sort of like
marshmellos without the sugar. Maybe cooking brings out some more flavor.
Of course they aren't good to eat after they blacken and start to make
spores - you have to get them while they're white.

They're fun to 'tap' because then you see the spores poofing out.

--
Susan Hogarth ***
"If we cannot adjust our differences peacefully we are less than human."
- F. Herbert