 Fruit bodies are irregularly top-shaped to roughly spherical, measuring 7 – 17 cm (2.8 – 6.7 in) wide by 6 – 12 cm (2.4 – 4.7 in) high. It has a two-layered peridium. The outer layer of the peridium (the exoperidium) is thick and leathery (except where it thins toward the base), measuring 5 – 10 mm (0.2 – 0.4 in) thick. It is divided into irregular three- to six-sided, low pyramids that are usually blunt, but sometimes pointed. The pyramids are 5 – 8 mm thick. They have parallel markings, a feature Morse attributed to the differences in growth rate caused by variations in daytime and nighttime temperatures. The pyramid centers have short brownish hairs. The pyramids cover the entire peridium except for near the base, where it is smooth. Warts on the surface of young fruit bodies may be disproportionately thick.
