Calvatia
Calvatia is a genus of puffball mushrooms that includes the giant puffball C. gigantea. It was formerly classified within the now-obsolete order Lycoperdales, 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 Lycoperdaceae of the order Agaricales.
Most species in the genus Calvatia are edible when young, though some are best avoided, such as Calvatia fumosa, which has a very pungent odor.
The name Calvatia derives from the Latin calvus meaning "bald" and calvaria, meaning "dome of the skull".
Taxonomy
Calvatia was circumscribed by Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries in 1849. Fries included a single species in the genus, Calvatia craniiformis, which was originally described as Bovista craniiformis by Lewis David de Schweinitz in 1832.
Species
, Index Fungorum lists 58 species of Calvatia.C. agaricoides Dissing & M. Lange 1962C. ahmadii Khalid & S.H. Iqbal 2004 – PakistanC. aniodina Pat. 1912 – AfricaC. arctica Ferd. & Winge 1910 – GreenlandC. argentea Kreisel 1992C. bellii M. Lange 1990C. bicolor Kreisel 1992C. boninensis S.Ito & S.Imai 1939 – Bonin Islands, JapanC. booniana A.H.Sm. 1964C. borealis T.C.E.Fr. 1914 – EuropeC. candida Hollós 1902C. capensis J.C.Coetzee, Eicker & A.E.van Wyk 2003C. connivens M.Lange 1990 – GreenlandC. cretacea Lloyd 1917C. craniiformis Fr. ex De Toni 1888C. crucibulum Kreisel 1992C. cyathiformis Morgan 1890C. flava Kreisel 1992C. friabilis G.Moreno, Altés & C.Ochoa 2006C. fulvida Sosin 1952C. fusca Grgur. 1997C. gardneri Lloyd 1904C. gigantea Lloyd 1904C. guzmanii C.R.Alves & Cortez 2012C. holothurioides Rebriev 2013C. horrida M.Lange 1990 – Svalbard, NorwayC. incerta Bottomley 1948C. kakavu Overeem 1927C. lacerata A.H.Sm. 1964C. lachnoderma Pat. 1907C. lilacina Henn. 1904C. lloydii Zeller & Coker 1947C. lycoperdoides Kościelny & Wojt. 1935C. macrogemmae Lloyd 1923C. nipponica Kawam. ex Kasuya & Katum. 2008C. nodulata Alfredo & Baseia 2014 – BrazilC. oblongispora V.L.Suárez, J.E.Wright & Calonge 2009 – BrazilC. occidentalis Lloyd 1915C. ochrogleba Zeller 1947C. olba Grgur. 1997 – New South Wales, AustraliaC. olivacea Lloyd 1905C. owyheensis A.H.Sm. 1964C. pachydermica Kreisel 1992C. pallida A.H.Sm. 1964C. paradoxa A.H.Sm. 1964C. polygonia A.H.Sm. 1964C. primitiva Lloyd 1904C. pseudolilacina Speg. 1919C. pygmaea Kreisel, G.Moreno, C.Ochoa & Altés 1998C. pyriformis Kreisel 1992C. rosacea Kreisel 1989 – EcuadorC. rubrotincta Zeller 1947C. rugosa D.A. Reid 1977C. sculpta Lloyd 1904C. septentrionalis M.Lange 1990 – GreenlandC. sporocristata Calonge 2003 – Costa RicaC. subtomentosa Dissing & M.Lange 1962C. tropicalis Speg. 1919C. turneri Demoulin & M.Lange 1990C. utriformis Jaap 1918C. vinosa Kasuya & Retn. 2006 – IndonesiaC. violascens R.T.Baker 1907