Calvatia is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of puffball

Puffball

A puffball is a member of any of several groups of fungus in the division Basidiomycota. The puffballs were previously treated as a taxonomic group called the Gasteromycetes or Gasteromycetidae, but they are now known to be a polyphyletic assemblage. The distinguishing feature of all puffballs is...

 mushroom

Mushroom

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...

s which includes the spectacular giant puffball C. gigantea. It was formerly classified within the now-obsolete order Lycoperdales

Lycoperdales

The Lycoperdales are a now outdated order of fungi. The order included some well-known types such as the giant puffball, the earthstars, and other tuberous fungi...

, which, following a restructuring of fungal taxonomy brought about by molecular phylogeny, has been split; the puffballs, Calvatia spp. are now placed in the family Agaricaceae

Agaricaceae

The Agaricaceae are a family of basidiomycete fungi and includes the genus Agaricus, as well as basidiomycetes previously classified in the families Tulostomataceae, Lepiotaceae, and Lycoperdaceae. The genus contains 85 genera and 1340 species.-Genera:...

 of the order Agaricales

Agaricales

The fungal order Agaricales, also known as gilled mushrooms , or euagarics, contains some of the most familiar types of mushrooms. The order has 33 extant families, 413 genera, and over 13000 described species, along with five extinct genera known only from the fossil record...

.

Most species in the genus Calvatia are edible when young, though some are best avoided, such as Calvatia fumosa

Calvatia fumosa

Calvatia fumosa is a species of puffball in the Lycoperdaceae family.-Description:The fruiting body is anywhere from golf ball size to baseball size, round to oval, 3-8 centimeters broad, thick, at first smooth and white, soon becomes grayish to brownish. The spores are firm and white at first,...

, which has a very pungent odor.

The name Calvatia derives from the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

calvus meaning "bald" and calvaria, meaning "dome of the skull".

External links

• Puffballs and their allies in Michigan by Alexander H. Smith, 1951. (Full text of monograph.)