(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- You've likely come across countless mushrooms while walking in nature, but none of them are the official mushroom of the state of Illinois – for now.
Illinois has a state tree, state flower, state insect and even a state prairie grass, yet no state mushroom. But after being contacted by a fifth-grade teacher at Prairie School of DuPage, Republican state Sen. Seth Lewis, R-Bartlett, was inspired to change that.
“The kids were incredibly enthusiastic. They actually did a tremendous amount of research,” Lewis said.
They even held and "state mushroom" election, which resulted in calvatia gigantea -- also known as the giant puffball -- being the winner.
“They just felt it represented Illinois the best,” Lewis said.
He agreed and drew up Senate Bill 3514 to designate calvatia gigantea as the official state mushroom.
It can grow up to 20 inches wide and can contain more than 7 trillion spores.
The measure passed the Senate unanimously and now heads to the House. If all goes well, the governor will sign it into law in June or July.
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