Giant puffballCalvatia gigantea

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.