Stump puffball or Lycoperdon mammiforme

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.

Fruiting body pear-shaped to egg-shaped, 3-6 cm across and 4-8 cm tall, with a distinct narrowed stem-like base. The upper part is rounded, with a characteristic small raised nipple on top (where the spore-release pore will form). The young mushroom is white to cream, densely covered with fine white or cream scales, which rub off with age and leave a lacy pattern on the surface. The mature mushroom is a light grayish brown.

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 hymenophore is enclosed inside the fruiting body (a gasteromycete — the spores ripen inside). In young mushrooms the flesh is pure white, soft and uniform. With age it becomes pale cream, then yellowish, then olive green and turns into a dark olive powdery spore mass. The spores escape through the apical pore on the nipple, which opens at maturity.

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.

The pseudostem (false stem) is well developed — a cone-shaped narrowing toward the base, 1.5-3 cm thick, with no clear border with the "cap". The flesh of the stem stays sterile (spore-free) and spongy, and shrinks with age.

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.

In young mushrooms — pure white, soft, spongy, with no yellowish or greenish tints. It does not change color quickly when cut. As it matures it gradually turns yellow, then green, and becomes a powdery spore mass.

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

Faint, pleasant and mushroomy in young specimens, neutral. In mature ones — no pronounced smell. Mature mushrooms are not tasted.