Fen puffball or Brown puffball

Fruiting body 3-5 cm across, spherical to flattened-spherical, with no distinct cap or stem (like all puffballs). The outer skin is whitish to cream when young, turning brown with age. Surface smooth or with fine scales in older ones.

The fruiting body is a round or slightly flattened "ball" 3–6 cm across, with no stem. The outer surface of a young mushroom is smooth, white or cream. In mature ones it flakes off in small scales, exposing the dark inner wall. Old ones are entirely dark purple-brown or almost black.

There's no hymenophore in the usual sense — the spores form inside the fruiting body, in the gleba. In young ones the gleba is firm white, marbled in cross-section. In mature ones it becomes powdery, dark olive-brown. Spore powder dark olive-brown.

The spore-bearing layer is internal — it fills the whole inside of the fruiting body. In young ones it is a solid, dense white tissue (the gleba). In mature ones it turns into a powdery dark spore mass. The spores are olive-brown, with thin little tails.

Stem absent or very short, threadlike — the fruiting body is attached to the substrate by a mycelial "cap".

There is no stem. The fruiting body is attached to the soil by a short mycelial cord that often breaks — and mature mushrooms can then roll about in the wind, scattering spores through an opening at the top.

In young ones — firm, marble-white, like cheese curd. When cut it doesn't change color. In mature ones it becomes powdery, with the characteristic dark brown spore powder. Faint mushroomy smell.

The gleba (inner tissue) is white, springy and delicately textured in young specimens. As it ripens it takes on a yellowish-gray tint — at this stage the mushroom is no longer edible. In old ones it turns into a dry dark powder (the spore mass).

Faintly pleasant and mushroomy, with no distinctive notes.

The smell is faint, barely mushroomy; in young ones it recalls fresh egg-white batter. The taste is mild and neutral, slightly nutty in some specimens.