Puffballs

A puffball is a member of any of several groups of fungi in the division Basidiomycota.

While most puffballs are not poisonous, some often look similar to young agarics, especially the deadly Amanitas. It is for this reason that all puffballs gathered in mushroom hunting should be cut in half lengthwise. Young puffballs in the edible stage, before maturation of the gleba, have undifferentiated white flesh within; whereas the gills of immature Amanita mushrooms can be seen if they are closely examined.