“I’m not sure why I went into anaphylactic shock after fondling the puffball”
A Column By Kathryn Ross
This time of year, there is always a lot of excitement when someone finds a soccer ball sized, white plant growing in the forest. The excitement comes from a first-ever viewing of these giant orbs. Others, more experienced in woodland settings, look upon them with a hungry eye. Not me.
I’m talking about puffballs. They are big, white balls found nesting among the flora and fauna along a woodland path.
The first time I saw one I was leading a group of elementary school-aged girls along a woodland path at Girl Scout Camp Pinewood. I was a camp counselor, specializing in riding. The camp was nestled in the hills above Arkport. Most of the time I taught riding skills to Girl Scouts from inner-city of Rochester. When I wasn’t introducing the youngsters to the joy of riding, I was assigned to help in other units. I happened to live in a unit called Shadowdell, and those were the youngsters I was leading the day we found a puffball.
Now, I was no stranger to forests. But I had never seen a puffball in all my forest wandering. I didn’t know what it was. So, I was down on my knees with the girls checking it out. Being the leader, I was the one touching it and patting it to see if it would bite or reveal something underneath, and boy, what it revealed.
Scientifically, puffballs are a type of fungus featuring a ball-shaped fruiting body that, when mature, bursts on contact or impact, releasing a cloud of dust-like spores into the surrounding area. Puffballs belong to the division Basidiomycota. True puffballs do not have a visible stalk or stem. Stalked puffballs have a stalk that supports the gleba. None of the stalked puffballs are edible as they are tough and woody mushrooms.’
Historically, puffballs were traditionally used in Tibet for making ink. Rural Americans burned the common puffball to anesthetize bees. Many consider them to be an edible delicacy.
I’ve often wondered why the first person ate something? Why did an ancient man pick up a lobster, with its snapping claws and armored body, and think it might be tasty? Who first plucked the legs off a frog and swallowed them? What possessed someone to dig up a truffle and pop it in their mouth, let alone pay thousands of dollars per pound today, just to eat one? Those people must have been awfully hungry.
Most puffballs are not poisonous according to mushroomers. Young puffballs in the edible stage have internal, undifferentiated white flesh when closely examined. Edible puffballs become inedible after reaching maturity.
The giant puffball, Calvatia gigantea, reaches one foot or more in diameter, and is difficult to mistake for any other fungus and really fills up the frying pan.
No matter how good they look. I’m not eating one.
After the Girl Scouts and I examined the puffball, we went on our way. The plan was to look it up in the camp library later that day. We never got to later that day.
As we were hiking along, I noticed it was becoming harder to breathe. It felt like my throat was closing. My fingers started to swell, and hives were blossoming on my legs and arms. I knew I was having an allergic reaction, but the only thing I was allergic to was penicillin.
We were on the path to the infirmary when we reached our destination, the lake. I told my co-counselor that I was going to the infirmary. I was less than five minutes away. We didn’t have cell phones or even a landline to communicate a problem. We had a whistle, but it was faster to keep walking.
Because my only allergy was penicillin, I didn’t carry an EpiPen (epinephrine autoinjector). Why would I? Where was I going to encounter wild or stray penicillin? I wore a medical alert bracelet that explained I was allergic to penicillin, so they wouldn’t accidentally inject me in a medical situation.
I was still breathing when I reached the infirmary, where I knew they had an EpiPen. Obviously, I survived. After a quick trip to the hospital in Hornell, I was pronounced fit to go back to work.
I went back to the stable and the horses where I was safe.
I’m not sure why I went into anaphylactic shock after fondling the puffball. I’m certainly not going to try eating one, no matter how tasty. I’m just saying that anyone who has a penicillin allergy might want to push that plate away.
Kathryn Ross is a lifetime writer, columnist, journalist, and community activist. You can reach her anytime, kathr_2002@yahoo.com
