Giant puffball - Calvatia gigantea

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Edible mushroom - novice Season - summer to autumn ​ Common names Giant puffball, puffball

Scientific name meaning: Calvatia comes from the Latin Calvus, meaning bald or skull. Gigantia from the Greek Gigantos, meaning a giant, in reference to the size of this fungus' fruit body

Habitat and growth

Can be found in pastures, meadows, parkland, lawns, grassland and woodland. The giant puffball is a saprobic fungus living of the dead and decaying plant. It can be found in rings and partial rings, but its irregular fruiting means it is often found as individual specimens or in small numbers.

Fruit body

There is no discernible cap on the giant puffball. Instead it is solid and an irregular large sphere to egg shape. It is white in colour. There are no gills and no true stem but a thick mycellial cord attaches it to the ground. The fruit body can reach 10 to 80cm across but it can be much larger than this.

Pores, flesh and spores

The flesh, or gleba, is white with the consistency of a marshmallow when young. In older specimens, the flesh turns yellow, then green-brown and slimy, before drying and releasing its olive brown spores. The smell and taste is sweet, mild and mushroomy.

​Possible lookalikes

Could be confused with some earthballs, which are toxic, but these are cream, purple or black inside. Also, could be easily confused with other puffballs, but all UK species are edible.

Could be mistaken for young poisonous Amanitas, such as the fly agaric (Amanita muscaria), pictured. However, an embryonic mushroom would be visible upon slicing from top to bottom.

Use as a food The giant puffball must be pure white inside if it is to be consumed. Any specimens that have any sign of yellowing, or worse greening/browning, should be discarded as they will cause severe gastric distress.

This mushroom is eaten cooked. The skin is tough so should be removed first. It has a slimy consistency and does not have the strongest taste, so it is best turned into a schnitzel, added to mushroom soups as a thickener, or included in dishes with lots of other mushrooms of different textures ​ Hazards Do not consume if any part of the specimen is showing signs of going to spore – yellowing or browning of any part of the flesh.

This mushroom can grow on roadside grass verges where it can accumulate traffic-related toxins. It is advisable to avoid harvesting from the sides of busy roads

Use in herbal medicine and medicine The spores have been used to coagulate blood in wounds

If you are suffering from any ailment or need medical advice, please see your General Practitioner ​ Other uses None known at time of writing ​ Importance to other species Provides food for invertebrates

Always stay safe when foraging. You need to be 100% sure of your identification, 100% sure that your foraged item is edible, and 100% sure that you are not allergic to it (it is good practice to always try a small amount of any new food you are consuming). If in doubt, leave it out!

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