These are recognised by their size, which can be anything from 150 mm to 500 mm. Like all puffballs, when cut in half and the interior is all white,when it can be eaten.

Peridium: Size is typically 200-500 mm across; exceptional specimens exceed 600 mm. It is globose, subglobose, or irregularly lobed and often flattened or cushion-shaped. Surface white when young, smooth or slightly uneven. Ages to cream, buff, or yellow-brown. May crack into large plates or patches as the peridium dries. Consistency is firm and fleshy when immature; it becomes brittle and papery as it matures.
Exoperidium: Thick, persistent, white to buff. Often cracks into large polygonal plates.
Endoperidium: Tough, leathery, yellow-brown. Opens irregularly, not by a defined apical pore. Ruptures into large fragments to release spores.
Subgleba: Well developed, forming a thick sterile base of spongy tissue. Often contributes significantly to the fruit body's mass.
Gleba: When young, white, firm, and homogeneous, this is the edible stage. When mature, it is yellow-brown to dark brown and powdery.