Common puffball

It is known as edible while the inside is pure white and uniform. If the inside has yellowed or browned, or shows the outline of a cap and stem, it is not eaten. Never eat it without an expert's identification.

Because a death cap in the egg stage and the poisonous earthball can look like puffballs from outside. Cut vertically, a death cap egg shows a cap and stem outline and an earthball shows a purple-black interior.

Inside a ripe puffball is a powder of millions of spores, which puff out like smoke through the top hole when hit by raindrops or touched. Avoid breathing them in.

In and along woodland, among leaf litter and grass. GBIF records cluster in İstanbul, Muğla, İzmir and Manisa.

'Top mantar' (ball mushroom) is a general Turkish name for puffballs (Lycoperdon, Calvatia). This page covers the most common species, Lycoperdon perlatum.

From August to January; dry brown fruit bodies persist for months but are not eaten.

Yes. Puff ball, puffball and puff mushroom are all names for round fungi that release a cloud of spores when they are ripe. The common puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum) is one of them; the much larger giant puffball is Calvatia gigantea. Only young puffballs that are pure white inside are eaten.

The common puffball, the giant puffball and some other true puffballs are eaten when young, but only if the inside is pure white and firm from top to bottom. Once the flesh turns yellow, green or brown we discard it.

We cut every puffball in half from top to bottom. A true puffball is evenly white inside. If we see the outline of a cap, gills and stem, it is a young Amanita in its egg, which may be the deadly death cap.

Earthballs (Scleroderma) look like puffballs but are poisonous. They have a thick, hard skin and are purple-black inside even when young. We never eat a puffball that is not white inside.

The purple-spored puffball (Calvatia cyathiformis) turns purple-brown inside as its spores mature, and many puffballs turn brown and powdery with age. At that stage they are no longer food; only young, pure white puffballs are eaten.

A puffball turns brown or black inside as it ages and fills with spore dust; it is then no longer eaten. A firm "puffball" that is black or purplish-black inside from the start is probably a poisonous earthball. We eat only puffballs that are pure white all the way through.

No. Calvatia gigantea is the giant puffball, which can grow as large as a football. The common puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum) is small, covered in tiny spines and grows in groups. Our giant puffball guide covers the larger species.

Young puffballs and the giant puffball look like white balls on the ground, and earthballs look like yellowish-brown ones. An Amanita in its egg stage can also look like a small white ball, which is why we cut every one in half: a puffball is pure white inside, while an egg shows the outline of a cap and stem.

Yes, the common puffball is an edible species. Eat a wild one only after an expert has identified it with certainty: it can be confused with death cap (egg stage) (Amanita phalloides) and common earthball (Scleroderma citrinum). Cut every puffball vertically in half: if the inside is not pure white and uniform all the way through, or shows the outline of a cap and stem, or any yellow, purple, black or brown, do not eat it. Avoid breathing in ripe spores.

In our calendar, common puffball season runs Aug–Jan. The common puffball fruits from late summer into winter; Turkish GBIF records cluster in October and December–January. Dry fruit bodies persist for months.

The common puffball grows in groups in broadleaf and conifer woods, woodland edges and along paths, among leaf litter or grass.

In Turkey, common puffball records cluster in İstanbul, Muğla, İzmir and Manisa, with others from Artvin, Kırklareli, Sakarya, Trabzon and Yozgat.

The common puffball can be confused with death cap (egg stage) (Amanita phalloides, deadly), common earthball (Scleroderma citrinum, poisonous), giant puffball (Calvatia gigantea, edible species), common stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus, inedible) and barometer earthstar (Astraeus hygrometricus, inedible). Look-alikes are compared on this page.

In Turkish, the common puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum) is called Puf mantarı; other local names include top mantar, inci puf mantarı and toz mantarı.