Stump puffball or Meadow 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.

There is no true cap. The fruiting body is flattened-globose or shaped like an upside-down pear, 2 to 4 centimeters tall and wide, with a noticeably narrowed sterile base acting as a false stem. The surface is white or cream, covered with tiny mealy scales and spines that rub off with age, leaving a smoother brown skin. At maturity an opening forms at the top, through which the spores pour out.

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.

There is no hymenophore in the usual sense. The spores ripen inside the closed fruiting body (the gleba). In young mushrooms the inner mass is pure white and firm; as it matures it turns yellow, then brown, and becomes a powdery olive-brown spore mass. Inside there is a thin membrane separating the spore-bearing part from the sterile base. The spore print is olive-brown.

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 true stem; the lower part of the fruiting body narrows into a short sterile false stem that remains even after the spores have dispersed. It is spongy, whitish, and turns brown with age. This narrowed base is what makes the mushroom look like a spinning top or a pear turned upside down, narrow end down.

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 flesh (gleba) of young mushrooms is pure white, uniform and springy, like firm cheese, with no hint of developing gills. Only in this state is the mushroom edible. When cut, it must be evenly white; the slightest yellowing or browning means the mushroom has matured and is no longer edible. Young flesh tastes mild and pleasant.

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

The smell is faint, pleasant, mushroomy, with no sharp notes. The aroma is not a defining feature; the mushroom is recognized by its white, pear-shaped fruiting body with tiny spines, its growth in meadows and the uniformly white flesh inside when young.