A 16-year-old boy from the Listowel area says he stumbled upon a 'huge' giant puffball mushroom that tips the scales at 19 lbs.

Matthew Hiltz, 16, said he happened upon the giant mushroom while he with his father were out behind their home in Newry, Ont., about a 45 minute drive northwest of Waterloo.

"Me and my dad were just going to cut some wood and I was walking through the bush with him when I just looked down and saw it there," he said. "I was like, 'holy cow' that's huge!"

At 59 inches (149 cm) around, the mushroom is about the size of a large beach ball.

Matthew Hiltz, 16, found this 19-pound puffball behind his home in Listowel, Ont. (Matthew Hiltz)

Prized by foragers

Considered a delicacy by some in Southwestern Ontario, giant puffball mushrooms are prized by foragers.

Hiltz said he normally keeps them to take home for his family, but in this case, the 19 lbs monster wasn't worth eating.

"It was a bit mushy, so I was pretty sure it was rotten,"he said. "If it wasn't, I'd have enough for a whole month."

Even though he wasn't able to dine on the corpulent mushroom, Hiltz didn't go home disappointed.

The 19-pound puffball was among three other smaller puffballs found by Hiltz. (Submitted by: Matthew Hiltz)

"We actually found a couple other ones walking through the bush and we ate those. Fried them up in a frying pan," he said. "They taste good."

Hiltz said he plans to keep the photos, so he can one day share the story with his children, but for now he'll settle for sharing his find online on a local online hunting and fishing forum.

"It got a lot of attention, a lot of people posting about it and commenting on it."