| Calbovista | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Agaricales |
| Family: | Agaricaceae |
| Genus: | Calbovista Morse ex M.T.Seidl (1995) |
| Type species | |
| Calbovista subsculpta Morse ex M.T.Seidl (1995)
| |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
 | |
|---|---|
 | Glebal hymenium |
 | No distinct cap |
 | Hymenium attachment is not applicable |
| Lacks a stipe |
 | Spore print is blackish-brown |
 | Ecology is saprotrophic |
 | Edibility is edible or inedible |
Calbovista is a fungal genus containing the single species Calbovista subsculpta, commonly known as the sculptured puffball, sculptured giant puffball, and warted giant puffball. It is a common puffball of the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Coast ranges of western North America. The puffball is more or less round with a diameter of up to 15 cm (6 in), white becoming brownish in age, and covered with shallow pyramid-shaped plates or scales. It fruits singly or in groups along roads and in open woods at high elevations, from summer to autumn.
Although the puffball was originally described as new to science by Elizabeth Eaton Morse in 1935, it was not published validly until 60 years later. The species is named for its resemblance to Calvatia sculpta, from which it can be usually distinguished in the field by its less prominent pyramidal warts, and microscopically by the antler-like branches of its capillitium (thread-like material among the spores). Calbovista subsculpta is a good edible species while its interior flesh (the gleba) is still firm and white. As the puffball matures, its insides become dark brown and powdery from mature spores.