Stump puffball or Brown puffball

Fruit body pear-shaped or inverted-egg-shaped, 2-5 cm tall, 1.5-3.5 cm wide at the top. The upper (fertile) part is a rounded head; the lower (sterile) part is a narrowed “stem” 1-2 cm long. Color: young ones are white, cream, turning yellowish-brown to dark brown with age. The surface is covered with small warts and scales that rub off over time. In mature specimens the top dies back, exposing the olive spore mass.

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.

The hymenophore is internal (gleba). The young gleba is white, firm and uniform. With age it turns yellow, then green, and becomes a dark olive powdery spore mass. Spore print 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.

There is no separate stem — the fruit body is all one piece. The lower sterile part is a “stem” 1-2 cm tall, white and scaly, passing into whitish rhizomorphs (mycelial cords) that anchor the mushroom to the wood.

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 in young ones is white, uniform, soft, with a delicate flavor. 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 other color — throw it away.

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).

Faint, pleasant mushroomy smell. Mild taste with a subtle nutty note.

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.