[7] Synonyms include Phallus campanulatus, published by Miles Berkeley in 1842 based on collections made by Charles Darwin in Maldonado (Uruguay) in 1833,[8] and Ithyphallus campanulatus, a new combination based on Berkeley's name, published by Diederich Franz Leonhard von Schlechtendal in 1933.

Further, B. stevenii is thought to have a larger fruit body size, a more coarsely scaly stipe, and lack of mucilage in the volva and the innermost parts of the stem.

[19] The conspecificity of the species was supported in a later study that used traditional and molecular methods to compare field-collected English specimens and an extensive range of herbarium material collected from around the world.

Evidence pointing to conspecificity included the continuum of spore sizes between the two, and the lack of any significant differences between their DNA.

[20] Mature specimens of Battarrea phalloides roughly resemble the typical agaric mushroom stature of stem and cap.

[10] The fragile sac-shaped volva is up to 15 by 13 cm (5.9 by 5.1 in) broad, unattached to the stalk, and formed by two distinct, separated tissue layers.

The inner layer resembles the scales of the stem, consisting of hyphae that are 3–18 μm in diameter, closely arranged (nearly parallel), septate, sparsely branched, yellowish ochre, with clamps at some septa.

The pseudocapillitium has hyphae up to 5 μm diameter, mostly thin walled, smooth, septate, sparsely branched, hyaline to pale yellow, with clamps.

[10] The spores of B. stevenii are used as a cicatrizant—a product that promotes healing through the formation of scar tissue–by the Criollo herdsmen of Gran Chaco in northern Argentina.

[27] The closely related species Battarrea diguettii is known in the United States from the Mojave Desert, and differs from B. phalloides in that the spore sac emerges by ripping through the top of the exoperidium, rather than by circumscissile rupture.

[10][24] In Mexico, where it is only known from the north and central part of the country,[22] it has been usually collected in arid and semiarid areas, on coastal dunes, found from sea level up to 2,550 m (8,370 ft) high.

The mushroom has been associated with the quick-growing evergreen tree Schinus molle, as well as Lycium brevipes, Solanum hindsianum, Salicornia subterminalis, Atriplex linearis, Quercus agrifolia and Opuntia species, in coastal dunes.

[32] It has also been reported growing in South America (Brazil),[33] Africa (Morocco),[34] Europe (Belgium and North Macedonia),[28][35] China,[20] and Australia.

[36][37] Due to a decline in sightings, B. phalloides was granted legal protection in Hungary in 2005, making it a finable offense to pick them.