Giant puffball or Mosaic 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 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: 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 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 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 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.

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 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.

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.

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