[2] The fruit body is 1.5–3.0 cm broad and varies in shape from spherical to pulvinate (cushion-shaped).

At first, the exoperidium is white; originally covered in dense filaments, it breaks up into buff, fine warts.

[4] Bovista aestivalis is generally scattered and/or in small groups on edges of grassy areas along paths.

When watered, they will fruit during the summer months and throughout the autumn and winter after periods of rain.

[5] The puffball was first described scientifically in 1851 by German mycologist Hermann Friedrich Bonorden with the name Lycoperdon aestivale.

[8] The specific epithet, aestivalis, is derived from Latin and means "pertaining to the summer".