Summary:
Battarrea phalloides develops deep underground, enclosed by volva that is broken as the long shaggy stem elongates, leaving a sac-like volva on base, and bearing the whitish spore case aloft where it ruptures peripherally. The top falls off, and the lower half (concave downward), is covered with a rusty brown sticky-powdery spore mass that is gradually dispersed. It grows in arid areas after rains. Spores are round and warted, and there is capillitium of two types: simple short hyphae, and elongated cells with internal spirals. Miller(14) differentiates Battarrea stevenii by saying that Battarrea phalloides is reputed to have a gelatinous tissue in the volva (Miller(14)), but there is molecular evidence of the synonymy of B. stevenii with B. phalloides, (Martin, M.P.). The online Species Fungorum, accessed February 7, 2017, gave the current name of B. stevenii as B. phalloides but MycoBank, accessed the same day, gave the current name of B. stevenii as B. stevenii. Siegel(2) say that recent genetic studies have shown that several species go by the name Battarrea phalloides.

Odor:
spore mass sometimes has unpleasant odor when old (Arora)

Microscopic:
spores (4)5-8(10) x (4)5-8(10) microns, round to broadly elliptic, warted; capillitium of two types: "simple, short hyphae up to 10 microns long, and elators (elongated cells with internal spirals) up to 100 microns long", (Arora), spores 5.7 x 5.7 microns, round, punctate, pale brown, wall about 1 micron thick; capillitial threads of two types: 1) simple colorless threads and 2) ''fusiform or cylindric "elators" with inner wall having annular to spiral thickenings'', (Smith)

Notes:
B. phalloides occurs worldwide but it is rare. It has been reported from BC, YT, AZ, and Australia, (Schalkwijk-Barendsen), ID (Smith), AK, and CA, (Arora), Mexico (Esqueda(1)), and Austria, France, Hungary, Italy, Spain, and Burundi, (Martin, M.P.). Oregon State University has a collection from OR, and the Pacific Forestry Centre has collections from BC. It also occurs in WA (M. Beug, pers. comm.), and the Owyhee region of both OR and ID (Trueblood(1)). The National Mycological Herbarium in Ottawa has collections from AB.

EDIBILITY

not edible (Arora)