page_title: Calvatia gigantea
section_title: Cooking
hierarchical_section_title: Calvatia gigantea / Cooking
caption_attribution_description: Calvatia gigantea ((Batsch ex Pers.), Lloyd) English: Old Giant puffball in the Wisentgehege Springe game park near Springe, Hanover, Germany Deutsch: Alter Riesenbovist im Wisentgehege Springe bei Springe in der Region Hannover, Deutschland Български: Гигантска пърхутка Français&#160;: Vesse-de-loup géante Nederlands: Reuzenbovist Polski: Czasznica olbrzymia Русский: Лангерманния гигантская Українська: Порхавка гігантська
context_page_description: Calvatia gigantea, commonly known as the giant puffball, is a puffball mushroom commonly found in meadows, fields, and deciduous forests usually in late summer and autumn. It is found in temperate areas throughout the world.
context_section_description: All true puffballs are considered edible when immature, but can cause digestive upset if the spores have begun to form, as indicated by the color of the flesh being not pure white (first yellow, then brown).  Immature gilled species still contained within their universal veil can be look alikes for puffballs. To distinguish puffballs from poisonous fungi, they must be cut open; edible puffballs will have a solid white interior. Some similar mushrooms have the white interior (or yellowish) but also have the silhouette of a cap-type mushroom on the interior when cut open. These are young cap-type mushrooms and may be poisonous.
caption: Old Giant puffball.
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