Giant Puffball (Calvatia gigantea)

A football-sized Giant Puffball on
grassland near Denny Inclosure

Giant Puffballs are often as large as the name suggests: sizes of up to 40 centimetres across have been recorded but, certainly in the New Forest, few reach this size.

They are, however, relatively unmistakable. Of broadly circular shape, when young, Giant Puffballs are very pale colour in colour, but turn brown with age. Of leathery texture, they contain within a great many spores - apparently millions, quite literally - just waiting to be released as the outer structure eventually breaks open to provide a means of escape and eventual dispersal on the breeze.

Somewhat strangely, the root-like cord that attaches the fungus to its growing surface also, in time, breaks, allowing the ball to roll around in the wind as a further aid to spore dispersal.

A summer and autumn fungus that is most often found on grasslands, Giant Puffballs, though not exceptionally rare in the New Forest, are not particularly common, either.

Edibility is good, though only when the fungus is young, white and firm - the taste is said to be similar to that of veal.

Warning: refer to a good, comprehensive fungus field guide to confirm identification, and only eat those species known without any doubt whatsoever to be edible - people have died after eating certain poisonous specimens.

References:
Mushrooms and other Fungi of Great Britain and Europe - Roger Phillips
The Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and North-western Europe - Marcel Bon
Fungi of Britain and Europe - Stefan Buczacki and John Wilkinson
The MacDonald Encyclopedia of Mushrooms and Toadstools - Giovanni Pacioni
Fungi of the New Forest: A Mycota - Edited by Gordon Dickson and Ann Leonard
A Passion for Mushrooms - Antonio Carluccio