Giant puffball or Brown puffball

Fruit body globular or slightly flattened, with no distinction between cap and stem — from the outside it looks like a big white ball or a loaf of bread. Surface smooth, leathery, white at first, then yellowing and browning; in mature ones it cracks and peels.

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.

Internal hymenophore: the spores form inside the fruit body (gasteromycete development). In young mushrooms the firm gleba — the flesh — is pure white and uniform throughout. As it matures, it turns into a yellow-green mass of spores — a powder that disperses through cracks in the skin.

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.

There is no stem in the classic sense. The fruit body is attached to the soil by thin white mycelial cords. The lower part may be slightly narrowed, forming a pseudostem.

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.

Flesh (gleba) evenly white when young, firm, juicy, with no cavities. Taste delicate, slightly nutty. Once yellowness or an ammonia smell appears, eating it is out of the question — such a mushroom is already toxic.

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).

A young mushroom smells pleasant, unobtrusive, slightly mealy. Mature and overripe specimens have a sharp, spicy, ammonia smell — a signal that the mushroom is no longer edible.

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.