Giant bovist

Giant bovist
	Giant Bovist ( Calvatia gigantea )
Systematics
Class :	Agaricomycetes
Subclass :	Agaricomycetidae
Order :	Mushroom-like (Agaricales)
Family :	Mushroom relatives (Agaricaceae)
Genre :	Large fever ( Calvatia )
Type :	Giant bovist
Scientific name
	Calvatia gigantea
	( Batsch ) Rostk.

The giant bovist ( Calvatia gigantea , Syn. Langermannia gigantea , Lycoperdon gigantea ) is an easily identifiable meadow mushroom with extraordinarily large fruiting bodies from the mushroom relatives family . It used to be included in the class or subclass of the belly mushrooms (Gastromycetes or Gastromycetidae), which according to more recent scientific findings no longer have any taxonomic significance.

features

Old fruiting body of the giant bovist that disintegrates into brown spore powder

Giant Bovist's spurs in the scanning electron microscope, stereoscopic display, magnification 5000x

The giant bovist is about 10–50 cm in diameter, is rounded and has no stem. The skin is smooth and leathery. The color is whitish when young, then yellowish green and old olive-brown or red-brown to dark brown due to the spores. The fruit mass is also white at the beginning and turns olive brown and powdery as it ripens. More mature mushrooms have an unpleasant urinary odor . Occasionally specimens with a diameter of 60 cm and a weight of 11.5 kg were reported.

Species delimitation

The giant bovist is one of the few types of mushroom that can hardly be confused. When young, when the fruiting bodies are still small, they can be confused with the poisonous amanita . Confusion with edible dusters ( bag dusters , rabbit dusters ) can also occur.

Ecology and phenology

Hexenring made of 27 fruit bodies of the giant bovist (1.5–5 kg / pc.) With a diameter of 6 m on an extensively used pasture

Riesenboviste grow from June to September mainly on meadows, pastures and open forests (loosened pine forests on rather dry locations). Characteristic locations are above all old orchards , where witch rings ten or more meters in diameter could be observed.

meaning

Each fruiting body produces over seven billion spores inside. Young specimens that are still white when cut are edible, but have only a slight taste of their own. Sliced, they can be prepared like a Wiener schnitzel . When consumed raw, they are toxic to mammals. In the past, smoldering specimens were placed next to the beehive in the beekeeping to keep the bees calm while they were beekeeping . This mushroom was also used as tinder . The giant bovist also contains the anti-cancer drug calvacin .

swell

literature

Helmut and Renate Grünert: Pilze (1988), Steinbach-Verlag
Sven Nilsson, Bo Mossberg (Illustrator) and Olle Persson: Practical Mushroom Science, Volume 1: Leafless Mushrooms (1978), Kosmos, Gesellschaft der Naturfreunde Stuttgart, ISBN 9783440045060
Brian Spooner: Mushrooms Central Europe (1999), Orbis, ISBN 3-572-01405-0
Milan Gryndler u. a .: Fructification of Langermannia gigantea in artificially inoculated field soil . (PDF; 299 kB) In: CZECH MYCOL. 60 (2): 231-242, 2008 (English).

Individual evidence

↑ Almost twelve kilograms: A mushroom for Wikipedia. In: Passauer Neue Presse . September 1, 2016, accessed September 26, 2016 .
↑ Stephen S. Sternberg, Frederick S. Philips, Alice P. Cronin, Jane E. Sodergren, Pedro M. Vidal: Toxicological Studies of Calvacin . In: Cancer Research . tape 23 , 1963, pp. 1036-1044 ( PDF; 1.76 MB ).
^ Hermann Hager: Hagers Handbook of Pharmaceutical Practice . Volume 2: Drugs AK. Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 1998, ISBN 3-540-61618-7 , pp. 267 .

Web links

Commons : Riesenbovist ( Calvatia gigantea ) - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Riesenstäubling (Riesenbovist) - edible mushrooms and other edible mushrooms

[1] Almost twelve kilograms: A mushroom for Wikipedia. In: Passauer Neue Presse . September 1, 2016, accessed September 26, 2016 .

[Sternberg1963-2] Stephen S. Sternberg, Frederick S. Philips, Alice P. Cronin, Jane E. Sodergren, Pedro M. Vidal: Toxicological Studies of Calvacin . In: Cancer Research . tape 23 , 1963, pp. 1036-1044 ( PDF; 1.76 MB ).

[Hager1998-3] Hermann Hager: Hagers Handbook of Pharmaceutical Practice . Volume 2: Drugs AK. Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 1998, ISBN 3-540-61618-7 , pp. 267 .