Pestle Puffball

Calvatia excipuliformis

Deciduous and coniferous forests, pastures, parks, fallow land. Summer, autumn.

Fruiting bodies 7-15 (20) x3—10 cm in size, consisting of a thick cylindrical stem and a globular head. They resemble a pestle; when young they are white, later yellowish-brownish, brownish. Surface granular, with pointed warts. Flesh soft, cottony, with a pleasant taste and smell. Characteristic features: head round, with crimped folds near the stem. Grows singly or in small groups, in summer and autumn, in forests, parks and fallow land. Common. Edible when young. Sometimes cup-shaped remains of the stem are still found in spring.