Giant puffball
Calvatia gigantea
Edible, but easily confused with poisonous lookalikes.
This is a game, not a field guide. Never eat a wild mushroom or plant because of it; if you are unsure, ask a mushroom advisor or a poison centre.
At a glance
- Scientific name
- Calvatia gigantea
- Class
- Agaricomycetes
- Order
- Agaricales
- Family
- Lycoperdaceae
- Under the cap
- Spores inside
- Cap
- No cap
- Stem
- No stem
- Lives by
- Breaking down dead matter
- Season
- Summer, Autumn
- Habitat
- Meadow, Gardens
- Spore print
- Brown
- Difficulty in WildGuessr
- Medium
Did you know?
- A large one can hold trillions of spores, and some grow more than 50 cm across.
- Unlike smaller puffballs, it has no opening: the spores escape when the thin skin cracks or rots away.
Could you guess it from clues?
WildGuessr picks a secret animal, plant, fungus, stone, prehistoric creature or space object and you ask yes-or-no questions about it, such as its group or where it grows. The fewer clues you need, the more points you score.
Similar fungi
- Common puffball
Lycoperdon perlatum
- Shiitake
Lentinula edodes
- Parasol mushroom
Macrolepiota procera
Classification, names and conservation status come from Wikidata (CC0), the photo from Wikimedia Commons. Wikidata Q222449 · All fungi · All entries