29/Sep/24, 3:28 PM
Tivoli elurajoon, Tallinn, Harjumaa, Estonia
Urban zone grassland, near road and sea coastline
59°26'33.3"N 24°46'53.7"E
🔆 Clear sky, open spot
Original Instagram postCalvatia gigantea
giant puffball
- Scientific identification
- Calvatia gigantea (Batsch) Lloyd
- Family
- Agaricaceae
- Class
- Agaricomycetes
- Genus
- Calvatia
Names across languages
- English: giant puffball
- German: Riesenbovist
- Finnish: Jättikuukunen
- Estonian: Hiidmuna
- Russian: Головач гигантский
The scientific profile
From the latest record: 2024-09-29.
Hymenium
Internal, forming the gleba, initially white and firm, becoming yellowish-green to olive-brown as spores mature
Cap
No distinct cap, the fruiting body is a large, smooth, rounded, or irregularly shaped puffball, with a leathery outer skin that cracks and flakes as it ages
Hymenium Attachment
N/A
Stipe
Lacking, the fruiting body is sessile or attached to the ground by a small base of mycelial threads
Spore print
Spore print olive-brown
Description
Saprobic found in nutrient-rich soils, meadows, fields, and open woodlands, often in grass or alongside paths, late summer to autumn
Edibility
Edible only when the gleba is firm and pure white, mature specimens are inedible
Fruit body
Fruit body large, typically 10–50 cm in diameter, may exceed 70 cm
Chemical reactions
KOH negative on surface
Odour
Odour mild and pleasant when young, unpleasant and musty when mature
Taste
Taste mild when young, unpleasant when mature
Microscopy
Spores subglobose to globose, 2.5–4 µm, with or without a short pedicel, smooth, thick-walled, hyaline to yellowish in KOH
Overview
Massive, iconic puffball fungus, recognized for its large size and white spherical fruiting body
1904). Mycol. Writ. 1 (Lycoperd. Australia) 1: 166.
Field encounters
02/08/23, 7:28 PM
Tuukri, Kadriorg, Harjumaa
In mowed grassland patch, urban area
🔆 Sunny hour, evening sun, deep shade from building
Original Instagram postSource hashtags
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Back to the collection · Photography and field notes by @fungarium.info