Pigskin Puffball
Scleroderma citrinum
This is a false puffball. The leathery skin is one clue. The black flesh on the inside is another.
mature pigskin puffball – Scleroderma citrinum
Poking a pigskin puffball is dangerous. The spores can bring tears to your eyes, make your nose run, cause post nasal drip and give you pink eye. They are poisonous and anyone eating one is likely to experience a good bout of gastrointestinal distress.
Do NOT do this at home
When you do foolish things be prepared to deal with unexpected consequences. I felt compelled to point out the identity of this mushroom after learning its true nature.
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Actually I just needed a break. I’m selecting and organizing 5 years worth of photos in preparation of updating the northern NY wildflower section of my web site. I’m still working on ’08 pics and probably have another 7,000 photos to go before I catch up to the present time. One nice thing is I’m now able to identify many of the mushrooms that once mystified me. The pigskin puffball is one of them. These photos have all been previously posted. The joke was lost to all but my most dedicated followers. In other words, no one got it. |
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August 17th, 2012 at 12:00 am
You find the most interesting things. I remember those puffballs as a kid.
August 21st, 2012 at 11:30 am
Wow, that is a huge amount of photos to organize. No wonder you haven’t been around much lately. I can barely sift through a few hundred vacation photos. The temptation to poke the puff was just too much I see, glad to see your finger, though swollen, is intact. Should have no difficulty hailing a cab now.
August 26th, 2012 at 10:10 pm
These puffballs are so interesting to me. I wish I could ever find them myself. I first found out about them right here on your blog. I remember meeting a woman on one of my nature trails who was telling me that she was out looking for them. I immediately thought of you.
September 7th, 2012 at 6:59 pm
So it is black inside even before it dries out? I haven’t seen one of these.
November 5th, 2012 at 10:57 am
You are a funny guy, you had me with the cow’s tongue! Then I saw your finger! Serves you right, poking a pigskin puffball like that! ha, ha, ha!
November 11th, 2012 at 7:22 pm
I know (now) that you are not a fungus eater, but young puffballs are very good to eat – they must be all-white inside.
Are you going to resume blogging? I love your posts and images.
VERY nice cat on the post.
May 18th, 2013 at 10:43 am
How goes the organizing?
I can’t imagine going through my picture folders in any systematic fashion… I find that when I want to link to my old pictures, it’s much easier to ask google to find them on one of my blogs.
Having multiple blogs means multiple blogging styles, including one blog where a single picture makes a post… much easier to look at my best shots on my blogs… then to root through accumulated files that weren’t good enough to post when I first took the pic…
We all need to take a break sometimes… hurry back!