Giant Puffball

Langermannia gigantea

Pastures, fallow land, scrub edges, forest edges, parks, gardens. Summer, autumn.

Fruiting bodies very large, 10—20 (50) cm tall and up to 2 m in circumference, white, surface smooth, in old ones yellowish-brown, cracked into small patches. There is no stem. Flesh white, brown when old. Grows singly or in small groups. Edible when young. Not rare. In Lithuania specimens weighing from 3 to 15 kg have been found. This giant produces a huge number of spores - up to 7 trillion. If each spore grew into one such mushroom, within 2—3 years the Earth's surface would be covered with a layer 1 m thick. Medical scientists have also become interested in this mushroom.