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Upcoming Events | Meet the Instructors | Plant Archive | Mushroom Archive
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The Pear-shaped puffball (Apioperdon pyriforme) is an edible mushroom that can be found as a decomposer of both coniferous and deciduous trees. It often fruits in large, dense clusters.
The pear-shaped puffball can be either pear shaped or spherical. The color ranges from cream to yellowish-brown. This inside is white and marshmallow-like at first, becoming olive-brown and grainy at maturity. Eventually, the mushroom develops a small opening at the top to release the brown spore dust.
Puffballs are edible when the inner flesh is pure white. The mushroom can be used similarly to tofu, or dried and turned into puffball powder/flour.
Puffballs must be differentiated from toxic earthballs which have a firmer texture and an interior which turns dark much quicker.
Puffballs must also be differentiated from potentially deadly Amanitas. When Amanitas first start to grow, they are in an egg-sac. The inside of Amanita eggs will have gills starting to develop. Edible puffballs will have a uniform marshmallow texture inside and no gills developing.
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Written by Amy Demers, founder of the Connecticut Foraging Club. To learn more about foraging in Connecticut, check out our upcoming classes.
