page_title: Battarrea phalloides
section_title: Edibility
hierarchical_section_title: Battarrea phalloides / Description / Edibility
caption_attribution_description: English: The stalked puffball mushroom Battarrea phalloides (Dicks.) Pers. Specimen photographed in Oahu, Hawaii, USA. Notes: "Found these growing right by the beach. Sandy soil, probably decomposing leaf litter. Dry, powdery texture. Woody, fibrous stem. Didn’t see any volva at the base."
context_page_description: Battarrea phalloides is an inedible species of mushroom in the family Agaricaceae, and the type species of the genus Battarrea. Known in the vernacular as the scaley-stalked puffball, sandy stiltball, or desert stalked puffball, it has a woody, slender, and shaggy or scaly stem that is typically up to 40 centimeters in length. Although its general appearance resembles an agaric with stem and gills, atop the stem is a spore sac, consisting of a peridium and a powdery internal gleba. In maturity, the spore sac ruptures to release the spores. Battarrea phalloides is found in dry, sandy locations throughout the world, and has been collected from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. There is currently some disagreement in the literature as to whether the European B. stevensii is the same species as B. phalloides.
context_section_description: Battarrea phalloides (as well as Battarrea stevenii) is typically described as unknown edibility, or inedible. In Cyprus, the immature egg-form of the fruit body is eaten. Older specimens may smell unpleasant. The spores of B. stevenii are used as a cicatrizant—a product that promotes healing through the formation of scar tissue–by the Criollo herdsmen of Gran Chaco in northern Argentina.
caption: Specimen from Oahu, Hawaii
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