ï~~2008
THE MICHIGAN BOTANIST
51
drying, and is mentioned by Lincoff (1981). Although we have also detected foul
odors emitted by the eastern giant puffball with age and drying.
METHODS
Fruiting bodies of giant puffballs were collected, measured, photographed and their macroscopic
characters described. In the laboratory, spores and glebal hyphae of mature fruiting bodies were
mounted in 5% KOH and observed at 400X using a Nikon OptiphotÂ~ microscope. For each microscopic character (spores or capillitia), ten measurements were made of mature elements selected at
random on the slide and the size range reported. Specimens were air-dried and retained in the collection of the first author at Michigan Technological University for eventual deposit in the University of Michigan Herbarium Fungus Collection. The single specimen obtained from the University of
Michigan Herbarium Fungus Collection (MICH) was examined similarly to those collected by the
authors.
RESULTS
Field Collections
On July 11, 2006 a large white puffball (DRO6-001) was found in a yard in
Hancock (Houghton Co.), Michigan (Figure 2) along a row of white cedars
(Thuja occidentalis). The basidiocarp measured approx. 30 x 20 x 16 cm, and
FIGURE 2. Calvatia booniana, the western giant puffball (DR06-001), found July 11, 2006 in a yard
in Hancock (Houghton Co.), Michigan under a row of cedar trees, measuring approximately 30 x 20
x 16 cm.
