Spiny Puffball Mushroom (A Wolf Fart) – Wild Edibles By greatoutdoordinary on May 2, 2017 • ( 3). This past fall, I was walking to one of my favorite deer stands in North Louisiana with longbow in hand, and a quiver bristling with arrows. So where does the common name "Wolf-fart puffball" come from? What is a Wolf-fart? Most people know about the giant puffballs (this is what I found in North Dakota) and there are several other kinds, my favorite being the “wolf fart,” if only for the name… Clearly this was a sign. Home › Food › Spiny Puffball Mushroom (A Wolf Fart) – Wild Edibles. "The epithet "pyriforme" means "pear shaped," so the common name for this could just as easily be the "pear shaped puffball."
This is only the third 50 degree day so far this year, so there are not many mushrooms out yet. At that stage the puffball is indeed inedible but when young it is delicious, yet nobody eats them. Because the mushroom propagates by exploding, releasing a cloud of brown spores into the air. I recorded these video during a morning walk with my trusty companion – Kais. Well, would you eat something called a “wolf’s fart”? The Great Mycological Force had ordained that I was not to find my beloved blewits until I developed a puffball mushroom recipe I actually liked. I teach a course here called "Latin and Greek for Scientists," and so I know that "lyco" means wolf in Greek; "perdon" means "to break wind" in Greek, so the two combine to mean "wolf-fart.