Common Puffball

Lycoperdon perlatum

Forests, parks, pastures. Summer, autumn.

A mushroom very well known to everyone. Fruiting body 3—8 cm tall, the lower part tapering into a stem. White, when old brown, covered with easily rubbed-off, sharp warts and spines. Flesh white, with a pleasant smell and taste, turning brown when old. Characteristic features: similar to the Pestle Puffball, but smaller, and the stem is much shorter and tapered. Grows in forests, in groups on the ground, less often on rotten wood. Young ones, while the flesh is white, soft, with a pleasant smell and taste, are edible; when cooked they are yellowish in colour. Very common; of interest to medical scientists.