The promise of puffballs this fall around Chicago outdoors in the Mushroom of the Week

Jill Anderson earns Mushroom of the Week and was one of those who sent notes on puffballs around Chicago outdoors in what appears to be a good fall for them.

By Dale Bowman

Jill Anderson assessed the state of a favorite fall mushroom.

“Last year was a good year for puffballs, and looks like 2022 wont be so bad, either,” she emailed. “We currently have two in our River Forest backyard.”

According to Edible Wild Mushrooms of Illinois & Surrounding States (p. 130), “In Illinois, Giant Puffballs the size of volleyballs commonly appear on lawns and in woodlands in early autumn, but whoppers might reach the size of an inflated automobile airbag.”

Mushroom of the Week, the celebration of mushrooms and their stories (the stories matter, as this one shows) around Chicago outdoors, runs sporadically, generally in the fall, in the paper Sun-Times. The online posting here at chicago.suntimes.com/outdoorsgoes up at varied days of the week, depending on what is going on in the wide world of the outdoors.

To make submissions, email (BowmanOutside@gmail.com) or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or Instagram (@BowmanOutside).

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