Common puffball or Mosaic puffball

The fruiting body is inverted pear-shaped or club-shaped, 2-6 cm tall, 1.5-4 cm wide at the top. The upper (fertile) part is a rounded head; the lower (sterile) part is a narrowed “stalk” 1-3 cm long. Color: young ones are white or cream; with age yellowish grey to brown. A telltale feature — the surface is covered in coarse spiny warts (1-2 mm) that gradually fall off, leaving a net-like trace.

The fruiting body is round, sac-shaped or upside-down pear-shaped, 5-15 cm tall and 4-12 cm wide. Young ones are smooth or finely downy; with age coarser scales appear and the skin peels off in patches. Color: young ones are white, later cream, then grayish brown. In mature ones the top dies, exposing a brownish-gray spore mass.

Internal hymenophore (gleba). The young gleba is white, dense and uniform. With age it turns yellow, then green, and becomes a dark olive-grey powdery spore mass. At the top of a mature fruiting body an opening forms, through which the spores puff out when a raindrop hits (hence the Ukrainian name, “rain mushroom”). Spore print dark olive-brown.

The hymenophore is internal (gleba). The young gleba is white, dense and uniform, with no visible chambers or structures. With age it turns yellow, then green, then becomes a dark olive-gray powdery mass of spores. Spore print dark olive-gray to brown.

There is no separate stem — the fruiting body is all one piece. The lower sterile part is a “stalk-base” 1-3 cm tall, somewhat narrower than the top, white and scaly, passing into whitish rhizomorphs (mycelial cords) in the soil.

There is no separate stem — the fruiting body is one piece. At the bottom there is a short sterile “stalk-base” 2-4 cm high, noticeably narrower than the top, white, scaly in old ones. There is no ring.

The flesh of young ones is pure white, uniform, dense, with a delicate pleasant flavor. With age it turns yellow, then green, and becomes a spore mass. The test: cut it open: uniform white = good to eat; any other color = throw it out.

The flesh in young ones is white, uniform and firm, with a delicate mild taste. With age it turns yellow, then green, and becomes a spore mass. Check before cooking: if the cut shows uniform white — it's good; any yellowish or greenish tint — throw it out.

Faint, pleasant mushroomy smell with no sharp notes. Taste mild and neutral — it takes on the flavors of the dish.

A faint, pleasant mushroomy smell. The taste is mild and delicate, nothing distinctive.