puffball The common name for the fruit body formed by some fungi of the Gasteromycetes. Puffballs are more or less spherical, and the spores that develop inside them are released through pores or cracks in the peridium. The giant puffball is Calvatia gigantea.

puff·ball / ˈpəfˌbôl/ • n. 1. a fungus (Lycoperdon and other genera, family Lycoperdaceae) that produces a spherical or pear-shaped fruiting body that ruptures when ripe to release a cloud of spores. 2. anything round and fluffy, such as a powder puff.

puffball Any of a large order of mushrooms (Lycoperdiales) whose spore masses become powdery at maturity and are expelled in ‘puffs’ when the case is pressed. Puffballs are stemless, and some species, but not all, are edible.