I just found these in my garden today and thought they were a bulb or something but a few people on another thread thought they were puff balls. They were on the soil surface and they smell earthy like truffle oil so I'm pretty sure they are a mushroom of some type, I have no clue though, there are no gills, they look solid just like potatoes but a bit darker in colour. They are clean, they look dirty but they aren't, that's their natural skin colour. Can anyone ID and tell me if they are safe to eat? TIA
Is there a way you can cross-section one for us? If it's a puffball, the outter skin will be pretty tough and thick...in the advance stages it'll be dark inside. If it's a truffle...it will have a pattern or design inside in a pale 'meat'.
Scleroderma bovista, an inedible puffball. Cheers, Harri Harmaja http://www.fmnh.helsinki.fi/users/harmaja/vasculars.htm
Thanks, I did cut it and did a google search and it is in fact a Scleroderma bovista. I have NEVER seen these before in any garden I've had before.
