Was it growing in your yard or did it get thrown there?? If it was thrown maybe you should let the police know,maybe it was going to be used illegally....you know those tripping shrooms...that is Huge!!
what ever you do DO NOT EAT IT!
Wash your hands after you handle it too.
There are so many variaties of shrooms out there you can't tell if it's good or not.
It looks like an edible form to me but no one can tell from two snapshots on the internet. So, cut it open to see what's inside, take pictures, see if it qualifies for the guiness book of records, then toss it.
This mushroom was growing in my yard, near the front fence.
I just sent these pics to a Dr Michael Tansey at Indiana University school of Biology.
Fungi is one of his specialities. Hope to get some feedback from him soon.
The shroom weighsright near 2 lbs.
Your mushroom is very likely in the genus Calvatia, I would suggest the possibility that it is Calvatia cyathiformis. Not dangerously poisonous, potentially edible if you harvest them fresh when the context is firm and white (if the interior is dark purple-black the mushroom is in the genus Scleroderma).
However for beginners I do not recommend eating mushrooms that fall into the puffball category as they may be confused with the young puffball-like buttons of a deadly Amanita or mildl to moderately toxic puffballs of the genus Scleroderma.
Calling poison control would more than likely be a waste of time, they have to call people like me
There are thousands upon thousands of mushroom species in the United States.... upon thousands... LOTS
None of the magic mushrooms resemble puff balls haahaa.
Cool shroom but just admire them with your eyes -- unless you endeavor to study them a bit. And also, realize that fungi play a vital role in the ecosystem. The mushroom you found is only the reproductive part of the organism, the rest of it dwells underground and serves to break down organic components in the soil, producing nutrients that can be more readily absorbed by plants.