Stereum purpureum. Pers.

Purpureum means purple, from the color of the plant.

Coriaceous but pliant, effuso-reflexed, more or less imbricated, tomentose, zoned, whitish or pallid.

The hymenium is naked, smooth, even; in color a pale clear purple, becoming dingy ochraceous, with only a tinge of purple, when dry. The spores are elliptical, 7-8x4u.

I found the plant to be very abundant in December and January, in 1906-7, on soft wood corded up at the paper mill in Chillicothe, the weather being mild and damp.

Stereum compactum.

Broadly effused, coriaceous, often imbricated and often laterally joined, pileus thin, zoned, finely strigose, the zones grayish-white and cinnamon-brown.

The hymenium is smooth, cream-white.

This species is found on decayed limbs and trunks of trees.

Hymenochaete. Lev.

Hymenochaete is from two Greek words, hymen, a membrane; chaete, a bristle.

In this genus the cap or pileus may be attached to the host by a central stem, or at one side, but most frequently upon its back. The genus is known by the velvety or bristly appearance of the fruiting surface, due to smooth, projecting, thick-walled cells. I have found several species but have only been sure of three.

Hymenochaete rubiginosa. (Schr.) Lev.

Rubiginosa means full of rust, so called from the color of the plant.

The pileus is rigid, coriaceous, resupinate, effused, reflexed, the lower margin generally adhering firmly, somewhat fasciated; velvety, rubiginous or rusty in color, then becoming smooth and bright brown, the intermediate stratum tawny-ferruginous. The hymenium ferruginous and velvety. It is found here upon soft woods such as chestnut stumps and willow.

Hymenochaete Curtisii. Berk.

Curtisii is named in honor of Mr. Curtis.

The pileus is coriaceous, firm, resupinate, effused, reflexed, brown, slightly sulcate; the hymenium velvety with brown bristles. This is common on partially decayed oak branches in the woods.

Hymenochaete corrugata. Berk.

Corrugata means bearing wrinkles or folds.

The pileus is coriaceous, effused, closely adnate, indeterminate, cinnamon colored, cracked and corrugated when dry, which gives rise to its name. The bristles are seen, under the microscope, to be joined. Found in the woods on partially decayed branches.



CHAPTER X.

CLAVARIACEAE—CORAL FUNGI.

Hymenium not distinct from the hymenophore, covering entire outer surface, somewhat fleshy, not coriaceous; vertical, simple or branched. Fries.

Most of the species grow on the ground or on well rotted logs. The following genera are included here:

Sparassis—Fleshy, much branched, branches compressed, plate-like. Clavaria—Fleshy, simple or branched, typically round. Calocera—Gelatinous, then horn-like. Typhula—Simple or club-shaped, rigid when dry, usually small.

Sparassis. Fr.

Sparassis, to tear in pieces. The species are fleshy, branched with plate-like branches, composed of two plates, fertile on both sides.

Sparassis Herbstii. Pk.



This is a plant very much branched, forming tufts four to five inches high, and five to six inches broad; whitish, inclining to creamy-yellow; tough, moist; the branches numerous, thin, flattened, concrescent, dilated above, spathulate or fan-shaped, often somewhat longitudinally curved or wavy; mostly uniformly colored, rarely with a few indistinct, nearly concolorous, transverse zones near the broad, entire apices.

The spores are globose, or broadly elliptical, .0002 to .00025 inch long, .00016 to .0002 broad.

This species was first found by the late Dr. William Herbst of Trexlertown, Pa., and was named by Dr. Peck in his honor. The specimen in Figure 384 was found at Trexlertown, Pa., and photographed by Mr. C. G. Lloyd. The plant delights in open oak woods, and is found through August and September. It is edible and quite good.

Sparassis crispa. Fr.

Crispus, curly. This is a beautiful rosette-like plant, growing quite large at times, very much branched, whitish, oyster-colored, or pale yellow; branches intricate, flat and leaf-like, having a spore surface on both sides. The entire plant forms a large round mass with its leaf-like surface variously curled, folded, and lobed, with a crest-like margin, and springing from a well-marked root, most of which is buried in the ground.

No one will have any trouble to recognize it, having once seen its photograph. I found the plant quite frequently, in the woods about Bowling Green. It is not simply good, but very good.

Clavaria. Linn.

Clavaria is from clavus, a club. This is by far the largest genus in this family, and contains very many edible species, some of which are excellent.

The entire genus is fleshy, either branched or simple; gradually thickening toward the top, resembling a club.

In collecting clavaria special attention should be given to the character of the apices of the branches, color of the branches, color of spores, the taste of the plant, and the character of the place of its growth. This genus is readily recognized, and no one need to hesitate to eat any of the branching forms.

Clavaria flava. Schaeff.

PALE-YELLOW CLAVARIA. EDIBLE.



Flava is from flavus, yellow. The plant is rather fragile, white and yellow, two to five inches high, the mass of branches from two to five inches wide, the trunk thick, much branched. The branches are round, even, smooth, crowded, nearly parallel, pointing upward, whitish or yellowish, with pale yellow tips of tooth-like points. When the plant is old, the yellow tips are likely to be faded, and the whole plant whitish in color. The flesh and the spores are white, and the taste is agreeable.

I have eaten this species since 1890, and I regard it as very good. It is found in woods and grassy open places. I have found it as early as June and as late as October.

Clavaria aurea. Pers.

THE GOLDEN CLAVARIA. EDIBLE.

This plant grows from three to four inches high. Its trunk is thick, elastic, and its branches are uniformly a deep golden yellow, often longitudinally wrinkled. The branches straight, regularly forked and round.

The stem is stout but thinner than in C. flava. The spores are yellowish and elliptical. It is found in woods during August and September.

Clavaria botrytes. Pers.

THE RED-TIPPED CLAVARIA. EDIBLE.



Botrytes is from a Greek word meaning a cluster of grapes. This plant differs little from C. flava in size and structure, but it is easily recognized from the red tips of its branches. It is whitish, or yellowish, or pinkish, with its branches red-tipped.

The stem is short, thick, fleshy, whitish, unequal. The branches are often somewhat wrinkled, crowded, repeatedly branched. In older specimens the red tips will be somewhat faded. The spores are white and oblong-elliptical. It is found in woods and open places, during wet weather. I found this plant occasionally near Salem, from July to October, but it is not a common plant in Ohio.

Clavaria muscoides. Linn.

FORKED YELLOW CLAVARIA. EDIBLE.

Muscoides means moss-like. This plant is inclined to be tough, though graceful in growth; slender-stemmed, two or three time forked; smooth; base downy, bright yellow. The branchlets are thin, crescent-shape, acute. The spores are white and nearly round. The plant is usually solitary, not branching as much as some other species; quite dry, very smooth, except at the base, which is downy, in color resembling the yolk of an egg. It is frequently found in damp pastures, especially those skirting a wood.

Clavaria amethystina. Bull.

THE AMETHYSTINE CLAVARIA. EDIBLE.



Amethystina means amethyst in color. This is a remarkably attractive plant and easily recognized by its color. It is sometimes quite small yet often grows from three to five inches high. The color of the entire plant is violet; it is very much branched or almost simple; branches round, even, fragile, smooth, obtuse. The spores are elliptical, pale-ochraceous, sub-transparent, 10-12x6-7u.

This plant is quite common around Chillicothe, and it has a wide distribution over the United States. The specimens in Figure 387 were found in Poke Hollow.

Clavaria stricta. Pers.

THE STRAIGHT CLAVARIA. EDIBLE.



Stricta is a participle from stringo, to draw together. The plant is very much branched, pale, dull-yellow, becoming brownish when bruised; the stem somewhat thickened; branches very numerous and forked, straight, even, densely pressed, tips pointed. The spores are dark cinnamon. It is found on the Huntington hills near Chillicothe. Look for it in August and September.

Clavaria pyxidata. Pers.

THE CUP CLAVARIA. EDIBLE.



Pyxidata is from pyxis, a small box. This plant is quite fragile, waxy, light-tan in color, with a thin main stem, whitish, smooth, variable in length, branching and rebranching, the branches ending in a cup. The spores are white.

It is found on rotten wood and is readily recognized by the cup-like tips. The specimen in Figure 389 was found near Columbus and photographed by Dr. Kellerman. Found from June to October.

Clavaria abietina. Schum.

THE FIR-WOOD CLAVARIA.



Abietina means fir-wood.

This plant grows in dense tufts, very much branched, ochraceous, trunk somewhat thickened, short, clothed with a white down; branches straight, crowded, longitudinally wrinkled when dry, branchlets straight.

The spores are oval and ochraceous.

It can be readily identified by its changing to green when bruised.

It is very common on our wooded hillsides. It is found from August to October.

Clavaria spinulosa. Pers.



Spinulosa means spiny or full of spines.

The trunk of this plant is rather short and thick, at least one-half to one inch thick, whitish. The branches are elongated, crowded, tense and straight; attenuated, tapering upward; color somewhat cinnamon-brown throughout.

The spores are elliptical, yellowish-brown, 11-13x5u.

It is usually given as found under pine trees, but I find it about Chillicothe in mixed woods, in which there are no pine trees at all. It is found after frequent rains, from August to October. As an edible, it is fairly good.

Clavaria formosa. Pers.

BEAUTIFUL CLAVARIA. EDIBLE.



Formosa is from formosus, meaning finely formed.

This plant is two to six inches high, trunk rather thick, often over an inch in thickness; whitish, or yellowish, elastic, the branches numerous, crowded, elongated, divided at the ends into yellow branchlets, which are thin, straight, obtuse or toothed.

The spores are elongated-oval, rough, buff-colored, 16x8u.

This is an extremely beautiful plant, very tender or brittle. When the plant is quite young, just coming through the ground, the tips of the branches are often of a bright red or pink. This bright color soon fades, leaving the entire plant a light yellow in color.

The plant has a wide distribution, and is found on the ground in the woods, frequently growing in rows. While the handsomest of the Clavarias, it is not the best, and only the tender parts of the plant should be used. It is found from July to October. The specimen in Figure 392 was found in Poke Hollow.

Clavaria cristata. Pers.

THE CRESTED CLAVARIA. EDIBLE.



Cristata is from cristatus, crested. This is a smaller plant than the C. flava or C. botrytes. It is usually two to three inches high, white or whitish, the tufts of broad flattened branches, sometimes tinged with a dull pink or creamy-yellow. The branches are numerous, widened and flattened above, deeply cut into several finger-like points, sometimes so numerous as to give it a crested appearance. This peculiar characteristic distinguishes it from C. coralloides. When the plant is old the tips usually turn brown.

Sometimes a form will be found in which the crested appearance is wanting, and in that case the branches terminate in blunt points. The stem is short and inclined to be spongy.

It is found in the woods, in cool, moist, shady places. While it is tougher than some of the other species, if cut fine and well cooked it is very good. I have eaten it for years. It is found from June to October.

Clavaria coronata. Schw.

THE CROWNED CLAVARIA. EDIBLE.



Pale yellow, then fawn color; divided immediately from the base and very much branched; the branches divergent and compressed or angulate, the final branchlets truncate-obtuse at apex and there encircled with a crown of minute processes. Morgan.

This plant is found on decayed wood. It is repeatedly branched in twos and forms clusters sometimes several inches in height. It resembles in form C. pyxidata, but it is quite a distinct species. In some localities it is found quite frequently. It is plentiful about Chillicothe. Found from July to October.

Clavaria vermicularis. Scop.

WHITE-TUFTED CLAVARIA.



Small, two to three inches high; caespitose, fragile, white, club-shaped; clubs stuffed, simple, cylindrical, subulate.

Found on lawns, short pastures or in paths in woods. Someone has said they "look like a little bundle of candles." Edible, but too small to gather. June and July.

Clavaria crispula. Fr.

FLEXUOUS CLAVARIA. EDIBLE.

Very much branched, tan-colored, then ochraceous; trunk slender, villous, rooting; branches flexuous, having many divisions, branches of the same color, divaricating, fragile.

The spores are creamy-yellow, slightly elliptical. This plant is slightly acrid to the taste and retains a faint trace of acridity even after it is cooked. It is very plentiful in our woods. Found from July to October.

Clavaria Kunzei. Fr.

KUNZE'S CLAVARIA.

Rather fragile, very much branched from the slender caespitose base; white; branches elongated, crowded, repeatedly forked, subfastigiate, even, equal; axils compressed. Specimens were found on Cemetery Hill under beech trees, and identified by Dr. Herbst. The spores are yellowish.

Clavaria cinerea. Bull.

ASH-COLORED CLAVARIA. EDIBLE.

Cinerea, pertaining to ashes. This is a small plant, growing in groups, frequently in rows, under beech trees. The color is gray or ashy; it is quite fragile; stem thick, short, very much branched, with the branches thickened, somewhat wrinkled, rather obtuse. Its gray color will distinguish it from the other Clavaria.

Clavaria pistillaris. L.

INDIAN-CLUB CLAVARIA. EDIBLE.



Pistillaris is from pistillum, a pestle.

They are simple, large, stuffed, fleshy, everywhere smooth, three to ten inches high, attaining to one inch in thickness; light yellow, ochraceous, brownish, chocolate, club-shaped, ovate-rounded, puckered at the top; flesh white, spongy. The spores are white, 10x5u.

They are found in the leaf-mold of mixed woods, and you will sometimes find several growing together. They are found from July to frost.

The dark variety, which is frequently vertically wrinkled, is slightly acrid when raw, but this disappears upon cooking. The plant is widely distributed but abundant nowhere in our state. I found it occasionally in the woods near Chillicothe. The plants in Figure 396 were found near Columbus, and were photographed by Dr. Kellerman of Ohio State University.

Clavaria fusiformis. Sow.

SPINDLE-SHAPED CLAVARIA. EDIBLE.



Fusiformis is from fusus, a spindle, and forma, a form.

The plant is yellow, smooth, rather firm, soon hollow, caespitose; nearly erect, rather brittle, attenuated at each end; clubs somewhat spindle-shaped, simple, toothed, the apex somewhat darker; even, slightly firm, usually with several united at the base.

The spores are pale yellow, globose, 4-5u.

They are found in woods and pastures. The plants in the figure were in the woods beside an untraveled road, on Ralston's Run.

They strongly resemble C. inaequalis. When found in sufficient quantities they are very tender and have an excellent flavor.

Clavaria inaequalis. Mull.

THE UNEQUAL CLAVARIA. EDIBLE.

Inaequalis means unequal.

Somewhat tufted, quite fragile, from one to three inches high, often compressed, angular, often forked, ventricose; yellow, occasionally whitish, sometimes variously cut at the tip. The spores are colorless, elliptical, 9-10x5u.

One can readily distinguish it from C. fusiformis by the tips, these not being sharp pointed. It is found in clusters in woods and pastures from August to October. As delicious as C. fusiformis.

Clavaria mucida. Pers.



Mucida means slimy, so named from the soft and watery condition of the plants.

The plants are quite small, usually simple yet sometimes branched, club-shaped, one-eighth to an inch high, white, sometimes yellowish, frequently pinkish or rose-tinted.

These plants are very small and easily overlooked. It is found on decayed wood. I have found it late in the fall and early in the spring. You can look for it at any time of the year after warm rains or in damp places, on well decayed wood. The specimens in Figure 398 were photographed by Prof. G. D. Smith, Akron, Ohio.

Calocera. Fr.

This plant is gelatinous, somewhat cartilaginous when moist, horny when dry, vertical, simple or branched, caespitose or solitary.

The hymenium is universal; the basidia round and two-lobed, each lobe bearing a single one-spored sterigma. The spores are inclined to be oblong and curved.

This genus resembles Clavaria, but is identified by being somewhat gelatinous and viscid when moist and rather horn-like when dry, but especially by its two-lobed basidia.

Calocera cornea. Fr.



This is unbranched, caespitose, rooting, even, viscid, orange-yellow or pale yellow; clubs short, subulate, connate at the base. The spores are round and oblong, 7-8x5u.

Found upon stumps and logs, especially upon oak where the timber is cracked, the plants springing from the cracks. When dry they are quite stiff and rigid.

Calocera stricta. Fr.

These plants are unbranched, solitary, about one inch high, elongated, base somewhat blunt, even when dry, yellow.

Its habitat is very similar to C. cornea but more scattered. C. striata, Fr., is very similar to C. cornea, but is distinguished by its being solitary, and striate or rugose when dry.

Typhula. Fr.

Epiphytal. Stem filiform, flaccid; clubs cylindrical, perfectly distinct from hymenium, sometimes springing from a sclerotium; hymenium thin and waxy.

This is distinguished from Clavaria and Pistillaria by having its stem distinct from the hymenium. It is a small plant resembling, in miniature, Typha, hence its generic name.

Typhula erythropus. Fr.

Simple; club cylindrical, slender, smooth, white; stem nearly straight, dark red, inclining to be black, springing usually from a blackish and somewhat wrinkled sclerotium. The spores are oblong, 5-6x2-2.5u.

This plant has a wide distribution, and is found in damp places upon the stems of herbaceous plants.

Typhula incarnata. Fr.

Simple; club cylindrical, elongated, smooth; whitish, more or less tinged with pink above; one to two-inches high, base minutely strigose, springing from a compressed brownish sclerotium. The spores are nearly round, 5x4u.

This is a common and beautiful little plant and easily distinguished both by its color and the size and form of its spores. If the collector will watch the dead herbaceous stems in damp places, he will not only find the two just described, but another, differing in color, size, and form of spores, called T. phacorrhiza, Fr. It has a brownish color and its spores are quite oblong, 8-9x4-5u.

Lachnocladium. Lev.

Lachnocladium is from two Greek words meaning a fleece and a branch.

Pileus coriaceous, tough, repeatedly branched; the branches slender or filiform, tomentose. Hymenium amphigenous. Fungi slender and much branched, terrestrial, but sometimes growing on wood.

Lachnocladium semivestitum. B. & C.



Pileus, much branched from a slender stem of variable length, expanded at the angles; the branches filiform, straight, somewhat fasciculate, smooth at the tips and paler in color.

This is quite a common specimen on our north hillsides. It is white and quite fragile. Found in damp places in August and September.

Lachnocladium Micheneri. B. & C.



Coriaceous, tough, pale or whitish; stem well marked, branching from a point, branches numerous, tips pointed; white tomentum at the base of the stem.

This plant is very abundant here and is found very generally over the United States. It grows on fallen leaves in woods, after a rain, being found from July to October.



CHAPTER XI.

TREMELLINI FR.

Tremellini is from tremo, to tremble. The whole plant is gelatinous, with the exception, occasionally, of the nucleus. The sporophores are large, simple or divided. Spicules elongated into threads. Berk.

The following genera are included:

Tremella—Immarginate. Hymenium universal. Exidia—Margined. Hymenium superior. Hirneola—Cartilaginous, ear-shaped, attached by a point.

Tremella. Fr.

This plant is so called because the entire plant is gelatinous, tremulous, and without a definite margin, and also without nipple-like elevations.

Tremella lutescens. Fr.

YELLOWISH TREMELLA. EDIBLE.

This is a small gelatinous cluster, tremulous, convoluted, in wavy folds, pallid, then yellowish, with its lobes crowded and entire. Quite common over the state. It is found on decaying limbs and stumps from July to winter. It dries during absence of rain but revives and becomes tremulous during wet weather. It is called lutescens because of its yellowish color.

Tremella mesenterica. Retz.

Mesenterica is from two Greek words meaning the mesentery. The plant varies in size and form, sometimes quite flat and thin but generally ascending and strongly lobed; plicated, and convoluted; gelatinous but firm; lobes short, smooth, covered with a frost-like bloom by the white spores at maturity. The spores are broadly elliptical. Common in the woods on decaying sticks and branches.

Tremella albida. Hud.

THE WHITISH TREMELLA. EDIBLE.



Albida, whitish. This plant is very common in the woods about Chillicothe, and everywhere in the state where beech, sugar-maple, and hickory prevail.

It is whitish, becoming dingy-brown when dry; expanded, tough, undulated, even, more or less gyrose, pruinose. It breaks the bark and spreads in irregular and scalloped masses; when moist it has a gelatinous consistency, a soft and clammy touch, yielding like a mass of gelatine. Its spores are oblong, obtuse, curved, marked with tear-like spots, almost transparent, 12-14x4-5u. The specimen represented in Figure 402 was found near Sandusky and photographed by Dr. Kellerman.

Tremella mycetophila. Pk.



Mycetophila is from two Greek words, mycetes, fungi; phila, fond of. The plant is so called because it is found growing upon other fungi.

Often nearly round, somewhat depressed, circling in folds, sometimes in quite large masses about the stems of the plant, as will be seen in Figure 403, tremelloid-fleshy, slightly pruinose, a dirty white or yellowish.

I have found it frequently growing on Collybia drophila, as is the case in Figure 403. Captain McIlvaine speaks in his book of finding this plant parasitic on Marasmius oreades in quite a large mass for this plant. I can verify the statement for I have found it on M. oreades during damp weather in August and September. It has a pleasant taste.

Tremella fimbriata. Pers.

Fimbriata is from frimbriae, a fringe.

It is very soft and gelatinous, olivaceous inclining to black, tufted, two to three inches high, and quite as broad, erect, lobes flaccid, corrugated, cut at the margin, which gives rise to the name of species; spores are nearly pear shaped. Found on dead branches, stumps, and on fence-rails in damp weather. Easily known by its dark color.

Tremellodon. Pers.

Tremellodon means trembling tooth.

These plants are gelatinous, with a cap or pileus; the hymenium covered with acute gelatinous spines, awl-shaped and equal. The basidia are nearly round with four rather stout, elongated sterigmata, spores very nearly round.

Tremellodon gelatinosum. Pers.



Gelatinosum means full of jelly or jelly-like, from gelatina, jelly.

The pileus is dimidiate, gelatinous, tremelloid, one to three inches broad, rather thick, extended behind into a lateral thick, stem-like base, pileus covered with a greenish-brown bloom, very minutely granular.

The hymenium is watery-gray, covered with hydnum-like teeth, stout, acute, equal, one to two inches long, whitish, soft, inclined to be glaucous. The spores are nearly round, 7-8u.

These plants are found on pine and fir trunks and on sawdust heaps. They grow in groups and are very variable in form and size but easily determined, being the only tremelloid fungus with true spines. The plants in Figure 405 were photographed by Prof. G. D. Smith of Akron, Ohio. They are edible. Found from September to cold weather.

Exidia. Fr.

Gelatinous, marginal, fertile above, barren below. Exidia may be known by its minute nipple-like elevations.

Exidia grandulosa. Fr.



This plant is called "Witches' Butter." It varies in color, from whitish to brown and deep cinereous, at length blackish; flattened, undulated, much wrinkled above, slightly plicated below; soft at first and when moist, becoming film-like when dry. Found on dead branches of oak.

Hirneola. Fr.

Hirneola is the diminutive of hirnea, a jug. Gelatinous, cup-shaped, horny when dry. Hymenium wrinkled, becoming cartilaginous when moistened. The hymenium is in the form of a hard skin which covers the cup-shaped cavities, and which can be peeled off after soaking in water, the interstices are without papillae and the outer surface is velvety.

Hirneola auricula-Judae. Berk.

THE JEW'S EAR HIRNEOLA. EDIBLE.



Auricula-Judae, the ear of the Jew. The plant is gelatinous; one to four inches across; thin, concave, wavy, flexible when moist, hard when dry; blackish, fuzzy, hairy beneath; when covered with white spores it is cinereous. The hymenium by its corrugations forms depressions such as are found in the human ear. One will not fail to recognize it after seeing it once. It is not common in our woods, yet I have found it on several occasions. It is found on almost any timber but most frequently on the elm and elder. The plant in Figure 406 was found near Chillicothe. Its distribution is general.

Guepinia. Fr.

Gelatinous, inclining to cartilaginous, free, different on the two sides, variable in form, substipitate. Hymenium confined to one side.

Guepinia spathularia.



Yellow, cartilaginous, especially when dry, spathulate, expanded above, hymenium slightly ribbed, contracted where it issues from a log.

It is quite common on beech and maple logs. I have seen beech logs, somewhat decayed, quite yellow with this interesting plant.

Hymenula. Fr.

Effused, very thin, maculaeform, agglutinate, between wavy or gelatinous. Berk.

Hymenula punctiformis. B. & Br.

POINT-LIKE HYMENULA.

Dirty white, quite pallid, gelatinous, punctiform, slightly undulated; consisting of erect simple threads; frequently there is a slight tinge of yellow. The spores are very minute. It looked very much like an undeveloped Peziza when I found it, in fact I thought it P. vulgaris until I had submitted a specimen to Prof. Atkinson.



CHAPTER XII.

ASCOMYCETES—SPORE-SAC FUNGI.

Ascomycetes is from two Greek words: ascos, a sack; mycetes, a fungus or mushroom. All the fungi which belong to this class develop their spores in small membranous sacs. These asci are crowded together side by side, and with them are slender empty asci called paraphyses. The spores are inclosed in these sacs, usually eight in a sac. They are called sporidia to separate them from the Basidiomycetes. These sacs arise from a naked or inclosed stratum of fructifying cells, forming a hymenium or nucleus.

FAMILY—HELVELLACEAE.

Hymenium at length more or less exposed, the substance soft. The genera are distinguished from the earth-tongues by the cup-like forms of the spore body, but especially by the character of the spore sacs which open by a small lid, instead of spores. The following are some of the genera:

Morchella Pileus deeply folded and pitted. Gyromitra Pileus covered with rounded and variously contorted folds. Helvella Pileus drooping, irregularly waved and lobed.

Morchella. Dill.

Morchella is from a Greek word meaning a mushroom. This genus is easily recognized. It may be known by the deeply pitted, and often elongated, naked head, the depressions being usually regular but sometimes resembling mere furrows with wrinkled interspaces. The cap or head varies in form from rounded to ovate or cone shape. They are all marked by deep pits, covering the entire surface, separated by ridges forming a net-work. The spore-sacs are developed in both ridges and depressions. All the species when young are of a buff-yellow tinged with brown. The stems are stout and hollow, white, or whitish in color.

The common name is Morel, and they appear during wet weather early in the spring.

Morchella esculenta. Pers.

THE COMMON MOREL. EDIBLE.



The Common Morel has a cap a little longer than broad, so that it is almost oval in outline. Sometimes it is nearly round but again it is often slightly narrowed in its upper half, though not pointed or cone-like. The pits in its surface are more nearly round than in the other species. In this species the pits are irregularly arranged so that they do not form rows, as will be observed in Figure 409.

It grows from two to four inches high and is known by most people as the Sponge mushroom. It grows in woods and wood borders, especially beside wood streams. Old apple and peach orchards are favorite places for Morels. It makes no difference if the beginner cannot identify the species, as they are all equally good. I have seen collectors have for sale a bushel basketful, in which half a dozen species were represented. They dry very easily and can be kept for winter use. It is said to grow in great profusion over burnt districts. The German peasants were reputed to have burned forest tracts to insure an abundant crop. I find that more people know the Morels than any other mushroom. They are found through April and May, after warm rains.

Morchella deliciosa. Fr.

THE DELICIOUS MOREL. EDIBLE.



This and the preceding species would indicate by their names that they have been held in high esteem for a long time, as Profs. Persoon and Fries, who named them, lived more than a hundred years ago. The Delicious Morel is recognized by the shape of its cap, which is generally cylindrical, sometimes pointed, and slightly curved. The stem is rather short and, like the stem of all Morels, is hollow from the top to the bottom.

It is found associated with other species of Morels, in woods and wood borders, also in old apple and peach orchards. They need to be cooked slowly and long. Coming early in the spring, they are not likely to be infested with worms. The flesh is rather fragile and not very watery. They are easily dried. Found through April and May.

Morchella esculenta var. conica. Pers.

THE CONICAL MOREL. EDIBLE.



The Conical Morel is very closely related to M. esculenta and M. deliciosa, from which it differs in having the cap longer than it is wide, and more pointed, so that it is conical or oblong-conical. The plant, as a general thing, grows to be larger than the other species. It is, however, pretty hard to distinguish these three species. The Conical Morel is quite abundant about Chillicothe. I have found Morels especially plentiful about the reservoirs in Mercer County, and in Auglaize, Allen, Harden, Hancock, Wood and Henry Counties. I have known lovers of Morels to go on camping tours in the woods about the reservoirs for the purpose of hunting them, and to bring home large quantities of them.



Morchella angusticeps. Pk.

THE NARROW-CAP MOREL. EDIBLE.



Angusticeps is from two Latin words: angustus, narrow; caput, head. This species and M. conica are so nearly alike that it is very difficult to identify them with any degree of satisfaction. In both species the cap is considerably longer than broad, but in angusticeps the cap is slimmer and more pointed. The pits, as a general thing are longer than in the other species. They are often found in orchards but are also frequently found in low woods under black ash trees. I have found some typical specimens about the reservoirs. The specimens in Figure 413 were collected in Michigan, and photographed by Prof. B. O. Longyear. They appear very early in the spring, even while we are still having frosts.

Morchella semilibera. D. C.

THE HYBRID MOREL. EDIBLE.



Semilibera means half free, and it is so called because the cap is bell-shaped and the lower half is free from the stem. The cap is rarely more than one inch long, and is usually much shorter than the stem, as is indicated in Figure 414. The pits on the cap are longer than broad. The stem is white or whitish and somewhat mealy or scurvy, hollow, and often swollen at the base. I found the specimens in Figure 414 about the last of May under elm trees, in James Dunlap's woods. They are quite plentiful there. I do not detect any difference in the flavor of these and other species.

Morchella bispora. Sor.

THE TWO-SPORED MOREL. EDIBLE.



Bispora, two-spored, differs from the other species in the fact that the cap is free from the stem quite to the top. The distinguishing characteristic, which gives name to the species, can be seen only by the aid of a strong microscope. In this species there are only two spores in each ascus or sac, and these are much larger than in the other species, which have eight spores in a sac or ascus. The ridges, as will be seen in Figure 415, run from the top to the bottom. The stem is much longer than the cap, hollow, and sometimes swollen at the base. The whole plant is fragile and very tender. The plants in Figure 415 were collected in Michigan by Prof. Longyear. Those in the full page display were found near Columbus and were photographed by Dr. Kellerman. It seems to have a wide range, but is nowhere very plentiful.

The spores can be readily obtained from morels by taking a mature specimen and placing it on white paper under a glass for a few hours.

The beginner will find much difficulty in identifying the species of Morels; but if he is collecting them for food he need not give the matter any thought, since none need be avoided, and they are so characteristic that no one need be afraid to gather them.

Morchella crassipes. Pers.

THE GIGANTIC MOREL. EDIBLE.

Crassipes is from crassus, thick; pes, foot.

The cap resembles the cap of M. esculenta in its form and irregular pitting, but it is quite a little larger. The stem is very stout, much longer than the pileus, often very much wrinkled and folded. I have found only a few specimens of this species. Found in April and May.

Verpa. Swartz.

Verpa means a rod. Ascospore smooth or slightly wrinkled, free from the sides of the stem, attached at the tip of the stem, bell-shaped, thin; hymenium covering the entire surface of the ascospore; asci cylindrical, 8-spored. The spores are elliptical, hyaline; paraphyses septate.

The stem is inflated, stuffed, rather long, tapering downward.

Verpa digitaliformis. Pers.



Digitaliformis is from digitus, a finger, and forma, a form.

The pileus is bell-shaped, attached to the tip of the stem, but otherwise free from it; olive-umber in color; smooth, thin, closely pressed to the stem, but always free; the edge sometimes inflexed.

The stem is three inches high, tapering downward, furnished at the base with reddish radicels; white, with a reddish tinge; apparently smooth, but under the glass quite scaly; loosely stuffed. The asci are large, 8-spored, the spores being elliptical. The paraphyses are slender and septate.

Figure 417 represents several plants, natural size. The one in the righthand corner is old, with a ragged pileus; the vertical section shows the pithy contents of the stem. The plants are found in cool, moist, and shady ravines from May to August. Edible, but not very good.

Gyromitra. Fr.

Gyromitra is from gyro, to turn; mitra, a hat or bonnet. This genus is so called because the plants look like a hood that is much wrinkled or plaited.

Ascophore stipitate; hymenophore subglobose, inflated and more or less hollow or cavernous, variously gyrose and convolute at the surface, which is everywhere covered with the hymenium; substance fleshy; asci cylindrical, 8-spored; spores uniseriate, elongated, hyaline or nearly so, continuous; paraphyses present. Massee.

Gyromitra esculenta. Fr.



Esculenta means edible. This is the largest spore-sac fungus. The original name was Helvella esculenta. It is bay-red, round, wrinkled or convoluted, attached to the stem, irregular, with brain-like convolutions.

The stem is hollow when mature, often very much deformed, whitish, scurvy, frequently enlarged or swollen at the base, sometimes lacunose, frequently attenuated upward, at first stuffed; asci cylindrical, apex obtuse, base attenuated, 8-spored; spores obliquely uniseriate, hyaline, smooth, continuous, elliptical, 17-25x9-11u; paraphases numerous.

This plant will be readily recognized from Figure 418, and its bay-red or chestnut-red cap with its brain-like convolutions. The books speak of its being found in pine regions, but I have found it frequently in the woods near Bowling Green, Sidney, and Chillicothe. Many authors give this plant a bad reputation, yet I have eaten it often and when it is well prepared it is good. I should advise caution in its use. It is found in damp sandy woods during May and June. The plant in Figure 418 was found near Chillicothe.

Gyromitra brunnea. Underwood.

THE BROWN GYROMITRA. EDIBLE.



Brunnea is from brunneus, brown. A stout, fleshy plant, stipitate, three to five inches high, bearing a broad, much contorted, brown ascoma. Stem is 0.75 to 1.5 inch thick, more or less enlarged and spongy, solid at the base, hollow below, rarely slightly fluted, clear white; receptacle two to four inches across in the widest direction, the two diameters usually more or less unequal, irregularly lobed and plicate; in places faintly marked into areas by indistinct anastomosing ridges; closely cohering with the stem in the various parts; color a rich chocolate-brown or somewhat lighter if much covered with the leaves among which it grows; whitish underneath; asci 8-spored. Spores oval. This plant is found quite frequently about Bowling Green. The land is very rich there and produced both G. esculenta and G. brunnea in greater abundance than I have found elsewhere in the state. It is quite tender and fragile. The specimen in Figure 419 was found near Cincinnati and photographed by Mr. C. G. Lloyd.

Helvella elastica. Bull.

THE PEZIZA-LIKE HELVELLA. EDIBLE.



Elastica means elastic, referring to its stem. The pileus is free from the stem, drooping, two to three lobed, center depressed, even, whitish, brownish, or sooty, almost smooth underneath, about 2 cm. broad.

The stem is two to three and a half inches high, and three to five lines thick at the inflated base; tapering upward, elastic, smooth, or often more or less pitted; colored like the pileus, minutely velvety or furfuraceous; at first solid, then hollow. Spores hyaline, continuous, elliptical, ends obtuse, often 1-guttulate, 18-20x10-11; 1-serrate; paraphyses septate, clavate. Massee.

The plants in the figure were found near Columbus and photographed by Dr. Kellerman. I have not found the plant as far south as Chillicothe, though I found it frequently in the northern part of the state. It grows in the woods on leaf-mould.

Helvella lacunosa. Afz.

THE CINEREOUS HELVELLA. EDIBLE.



Lacunosa, full of pits or pitted. This is a beautiful plant, very closely related to the Morchellas.

The pileus is inflated, lobed, cinereous black, lobes deflected, adnate.

The stem is hollow, white or dusky, exterior ribbed, forming intervening cavities.

The asci are cylindrical, and stemmed. The sporidia are ovate and hyaline.

The deep longitudinal grooves in the stem are characteristic of this species. The plants from which the halftone was made were collected near Sandusky and photographed by Dr. Kellerman. They grow in moist woods. I found the plants frequently in the woods near Bowling Green and occasionally about Chillicothe, growing about well-decayed stumps.

Hypomyces. Tul.

Hypomyces means upon a mushroom. It is parasitic on fungi. Mycelium byssoid; perithecia small; asci 8-spored.

Hypomyces lactifluorum. Schw.



Lactifluorum means milk-flowing. It is parasitic on Lactarius, probably piperatus, as this species surrounded it. It seems to have the power to change the color into an orange-red mass, in many cases entirely obliterating the gills of the host-species, as will be seen in Figure 422.

The asci are long and slender. The sporidia are in one row, spindle-shaped, straight or slightly curved, rough, hyaline, uniseptic, cuspidate, pointed at the ends, 30-38x6-8u.

This very closely resembles Hypomyces aurantius, but the sporidia are larger, rough and warted and the felt-like mycelium at the base is wanting.

It occurs in various colors, orange, red, white, and purple. It is not plentiful, occurring only occasionally. Capt. McIlvaine says, "When it is well cooked in small pieces it is among the best." It is found from July to October.

Leptoglossum luteum. (Pk.) Sac.



Leptoglossum is from two Greek words, meaning thin, delicate, and tongue; luteum means yellowish.

The club is distinct from the stem, smooth, compressed, generally with a groove on one side; luteous, often becoming brown at the tip or apex.

The stem is equal or slightly enlarged above, stuffed, luteous, minutely scaly.

The spores are oblong, slightly curved, in a double row, 1-1000 to 1-800 inch long. Peck.

These are found quite frequently among moss, or where an old log has rotted down, on the north hillsides about Chillicothe. The plants were first described by Dr. Peck as "Geoglossum luteum," but afterwards called by Saccardo "Leptoglossum luteum." The plants in Figure 423 were found in August or September, on Ralston's Run, near Chillicothe, and were photographed by Dr. Kellerman.

Spathularia. Pers.

This is a very interesting genus, and one that will attract the attention of any one at first sight. It grows in the form of a spathula, from which it receives its generic name. The spore-body is flattened and grows down on both sides of the stem, tapering downward.

Spathularia flavida. Pers.

THE YELLOW SPATHULARIA. EDIBLE.



The spore body is a clear yellow, sometimes tinged with red, shaped like a spathula, the apex blunt, sometimes slightly cleft, the surface wavy, somewhat crisp, growing down the stem on opposite sides further than V. velutipes.

The stem is thick, hollow, white, then tinged with yellow, slightly compressed; asci clavate, apex somewhat pointed, 8-spored; spores arranged in parallel fascicles, hyaline, linear-clavate, usually very slightly bent, 50-60x3.5-4u; paraphyses filiform, septate, often branched, tips not thickened, wavy. While this is a beautiful plant it is not common. Found in August and September.

Spathularia velutipes. C. & F.

VELVET-FOOT SPATHULARIA. EDIBLE.

Velutipes is from velutum, velvet; pes, foot.

The spore body is flattened, shaped like a spathula, spore surface wavy, growing on the opposite sides of the upper part of the stem, tawny-yellow. The stem is hollow, minutely downy or velvety, dark brown tinged with yellow. It will dry quite as well as Morchella. It is found in damp woods on mossy logs. It is not a common plant. Found in August and September.

Leotia. Hill.

Receptacle pileate. Pileus orbicular, margin involute, free from the stem, smooth, hymenium covering upper surface.

The stem is hollow, central, rather long, continuous with pileus; the whole plant greenish-yellow.

Asci club-shaped, pointed, 8-spored. The spores are elliptical and hyaline. The paraphyses are present, usually slender and round.

Leotia lubrica. Pers.



Lubrica means slippery; so called because the plants are usually slimy.

The pileus is irregularly hemispherical, somewhat wrinkled, inflated, wavy, margin obtuse, free from the stem, yellowish olive-green, tremelloid.

The stem is one to three inches long, nearly equal, hollow, and continuous with the cap; greenish-yellow, covered with small white granules.

The asci are cylindrical, slightly pointed at the apex, 8-spored. The spores are oblong, hyaline, smooth, sometimes slightly curved, 22-25x5u. The paraphyses are slender, round, hyaline.

The plants are gregarious and grow among moss or among leaves in the woods. This species is quite plentiful about Chillicothe. It is distinguished from Leotia chlorocephala by the color of its stem and cap. The color of the latter is green or dark green. They are found from July to frost. They are edible but not choice.

Leotia chlorocephala. Schw.



Chlorocephala means green head. However, the entire plant is green.

They grow in clusters, pileus round, depressed, somewhat translucent, more or less waxy, margin incurved, dark-verdigris-green, sometimes rather dark-green.

The stem is rather short, almost equal; green, but often paler than the cap, covered with fine powdery dust, often twisted.

Asci cylindric-clavate, apex rather narrowed, 8-spored, spores smooth, hyaline, ends acute, often slightly curved, 17-20x5u.

The specimens in Figure 426 were found in Purgatory Swamp, near Boston, by Mrs. Blackford. Both cap and stem were a deep verdigris-green. They were sent to me during the warm weather of August.

Peziza. Linn.

Peziza means stalkless mushroom. This is a large genus of discomycetous fungi in which the hymenium lines the cavity of a fleshy membranous or waxy cup. They are attached to the ground, decaying wood, or other substances, by the center, though sometimes they are distinctly stalked. They are often beautifully colored and are called fairy cups, blood cups, and cup fungi. They are all cup-or saucer-shaped; externally warted, scurvy or smooth; asci cylindrical, 8-spored. The genus is large. Prof. Peck reports 150 species. Found early in spring till early winter.

Peziza acetabulum. Linn.

RETICULATED PEZIZA. EDIBLE.

Acetabulum, a small cup or vinegar cup. The spore-bearing body stipitate, cup-shaped, dingy, ribbed externally with branching veins, which run up from the short, pitted and hollow stem; mouth somewhat contracted; light umber without and darker within. Found on the ground in the spring.

Peziza badia. Pers.

LARGE BROWN PEZIZA. EDIBLE.



Gregarious in its habits; sessile, or narrowed into a very short stout stem, more or less pitted; nearly round and closed at first, then expanded until cup-shaped; margin at first involute; externally covered with a frost-like bloom; disk darker than the external surface, very changeable in color; lobes more or less split and wavy, somewhat thick; spore-sacs cylindrical, apex truncante, sporidia oblong-ovate, epispore rough, 8-spored. Found on the ground in the grass or by the roadside in open woods. I found my first specimens in a clearing at Salem, but I have since found it at several points in the state. It should be fresh when eaten.

Peziza coccinea. Jacq.

THE CARMINE PEZIZA.



Coccinea means scarlet or crimson. Usually growing two or three on the same stick, the color is a very pure and beautiful scarlet, attractive to children; school children frequently bring me specimens, curious to know what they are. Specimens not large, disk clear and pure carmine within, externally white, as is the stem; tomentose, with short, adpressed down; sporidia oblong, 8-spored. It is readily recognized by the pure carmine disk and whitish tomentose exterior. It is found in damp woods on decayed sticks, being very common all over the state.

Peziza odorata. Pk.

THE ODOROUS PEZIZA. EDIBLE.

Gregarious in its habits. Cup yellowish, sessile, translucent, becoming dull brown when old, brittle when fresh, flesh moist and watery; the frame of the cup is separable into two layers; the outer one is rough, while the inner one is smooth. The disk is yellowish-brown. The asci are cylindrical, opening by a lid. On ground in cellars, about barns and outbuildings. A very beautiful cluster grew upon a water-bucket in my stable. The cups were quite large, two and a half to three inches across. Its odor is distinctive. It is very similar to Peziza Petersii from which it is distinguished by its larger spores and peculiar odor. Found in May and June.

Peziza Stevensoni.



This plant is sessile or nearly so, growing on the ground in dense clusters. The specimens in Figure 429 grew in Dr. Chas. Miesse's cellar, in Chillicothe. They grow quite large at times; are ovate, externally grayish-white, covered with a minute down or tomentum, internally reddish-brown, the rim of the cup finely serrated, as will be seen in the figure below. They are found from May to July.

Peziza semitosta.



Semitosta, from its scorched appearance, or umber-like color.

The cup is one to one and a half inches across, hemispherical, hirsute-velvety without, date-brown within; margin indexed.

The stem is ribbed or wrinkled. Sporidia are subfusiform, .00117 inch long.

These plants are found on the ground in damp places. It was formerly called Peziza semitosta or Sarcoscypha semitosta. The plants in Figure 430 were found in August or September on the north side of the Edinger Hill, near Chillicothe, and were photographed by Dr. Kellerman. No doubt edible, but the writer has not tried them. This is called Macropodia semitosta.

Peziza aurantia. Fr.

ORANGE-GROUND PEZIZA. EDIBLE.

Aurantia means orange color.

Subsessile, irregular, oblique, externally somewhat pruinose, whitish. The sporidia are elliptic, rough.

Found on the ground in damp woods. The cups are often quite large and very irregular. Found in August and September.

Peziza repanda. Wahl.



Repanda means bent backward. These plants are found in dark moist woods, growing on old, wet logs, or in well wooded earth. The cups are clustered or scattered, subsessile, contracted into a short, stout, stem-like base. When very small they appear like a tiny white knot on the surface of the log. This grows, so that soon a hollow sphere with an opening at the top is produced. The plant now begins to expand and flatten, producing an irregular, flattened disk with small upturned edges. The margin often becomes split and wavy, sometimes drooping and revolute; disk pale or dark brown, more or less wrinkled toward the center; externally the cup is a scurvy-white. The asci are 8-spored, quite large. The paraphyses are few, short, separate, clavate, and brownish at the tips. The spores are elliptical, thin-walled, hyaline, non-nucleate, 14x9u.

Found from May to October. Edible.

Peziza vesiculosa. Bull.

THE BLADDERY PEZIZA. EDIBLE.



Often in thick clusters. Those in the center are frequently distorted by mutual pressure; large, entire, sessile, at first globose; closed at first, then expanding; the margin of the cup more or less incurved, sometimes slightly notched; disk pallid-brown, externally; surface is covered with a coarsely granular or warty substance which plainly shows in the photograph. The hymenium is generally separable from the substance of the cap. The spores are smooth, transparent, continuous, elliptical, ends obtuse.

They are found on dung-hills, hot-beds or wherever the ground has been strongly fertilized and contains the necessary moisture. This is an interesting plant and often found in large numbers. Vesicolosa means full of bladders, as the picture will suggest.

I found a very nice cluster on the 25th of April, 1904, in my stable.

Peziza scutellata. Linn.

THE SHIELD-LIKE PEZIZA.



Becoming plane, vermillion-red, externally paler, hispid towards the margin with straight black hairs. Spores ellipsoid. Found on damp rotten logs from July to October. Very plentiful and very pretty under the magnifying glass.

Peziza tuberosa. Bull.

THE TUBEROUS PEZIZA.



Tuberosa, furnished with a tuber or sclerotium. The cup is thin, infundibuliform, bright brown, turning pale.

The stem is elongated, springing from an irregular black tuber, called sclerotium. The stems run deep into the earth and are attached to a sclerotium, which will be seen in the halftone. Many fungus plants have learned to store up fungus starch for the new plant.

The sporidia are oblong-ellipsoid, simple. It is called by some authors Sclerotinia tuberosa. It grows on the ground in the spring and may be known by its bright brown color and its stem running deep into the earth and attached to a tuber.

Peziza hemispherica. Wigg.

Sessile, hemispherical, waxy, externally brownish, clothed with dense, fasciculate hairs; disk glaucous-white. This is called by Gillet Lachnea hemispherica. The cups are small, varying much in color and the sporidia are ellipsoidal. They are found on the ground in September and October. Found in Poke Hollow.

Peziza leporina. Batsch.

Substipitate, elongated on one side, ear-shaped, subferruginous externally, farinose internally; base even. It is sometimes cinereous or yellowish. Sporidia ellipsoidal. This is called frequently Otidea leporina, (Batsch.) Fckl. It is found on the ground in the woods during September and October. Found in Poke Hollow.

Peziza venosa. P.

This plant is saucer-shaped, sometimes many inches broad; sessile, somewhat twisted, dark umber, white beneath, wrinkled with rib-like veins. Odor often strong. Found growing on the ground in leaf mold. Found in the spring, about the last of April, in James Dunlap's woods, near Chillicothe. This is also called Discina venosa, Suec.

Peziza floccosa. Schw.



This is a beautiful plant growing upon partially decayed logs. I have always found it upon hickory logs. The cap is cup-shaped, very much like a beaker. The stem is long and slender, rather woolly; the rim of the cap is fringed with long, strigose hairs. The inner surface of the cup represents the spore-bearing portion.

The inside and the rim of the cup are very beautiful, being variegated with deep scarlet and white. Also called Sarcoscypha floccosa.

The plant is found from June to September.

Peziza occidentalis.



This is another very showy plant, quite equal in attractiveness to P. floccosa and P. coccinea.

The cup is infundibuliform, the outside as well as the stem whitish, and downy, the bowl or disk is reddish-orange. This is known by some authors as Sarcoscypha occidentalis. It grows on rotten sticks upon the ground. May and June.

Peziza nebulosa. Cooke.



Nebulosa means cloudy or dark, from nebula, a cloud; from its color.

Ascophore stipitate, rather fleshy, closed at first, then cup-shaped, becoming somewhat plane, the margin slightly incurved, externally pilose or downy, pale gray or sometimes quite dark.

Asci are cylindrical; spores spindle-shaped, straight or bow-shaped, rough, 35-8; paraphyses thread-shaped.

These plants are found on decayed stumps or logs in the wood. The woods where I have found them have been rather dense and damp. The plants in Figure 437 were found in Haynes' Hollow and photographed by Dr. Kellerman.

Urnula craterium. (Schw.) Fr.



Urnula means burned; craterium means a small crater; hence the translation is a burned-out crater, which will appear to the student as a very appropriate name. It is a very common and conspicuous Ascomycetous, or cup fungus, growing in clusters on rotten sticks that lie in moist places. When the plants first appear they are small, black stems with scarcely any evidence of a cup. In a short time the end of the stem shows evidence of enlargement, showing lines of separation on the top. It soon opens and we have the cup as you see it in Figure 438. The hymenium, or spore bearing surface, is the interior wall of the cup. The cup is lined inside with a palisade of long cylindrical sacs, each containing eight spores with a small amount of liquid. These sacs are at right angles to the inner surface, and are provided with lids similar to that of a coffee-pot; at maturity the lid is forced open and the spores are shot out of these sacs, and, by jarring the fungus when it is ready to make the discharge, they can be seen as a little cloud an inch or two above the cup. Place a small slip of glass over the cup and you will see spores in groups of eight in very small drops of liquid on the glass. This species appears in April and May, and is certainly a very interesting plant. It is called by some Peziza craterium, Schw.

Helotium. Fr.

Disc always open, at first punctiform, then dilated, convex or concave, naked. Excipulum waxy, free, marginate, externally naked.

Helotium citrinum. Fr.

LEMON-COLORED HELOTIUM.



This is a beautiful little Disc-fungus, yellow, growing upon rotten logs in damp woods. They often grow in dense clusters; a beautiful lemon-yellow, the head being plane or concave, with a short, thick, paler stem, forming an inverted cone. Asci elongated, narrowly cylindrical, attenuated at the base into a long, slender, crooked pedicel, 8-spored.

Sporidia oblong, elliptical, with two or three minute nuclei.

This is quite a common plant in our woods during wet weather or in damp places, growing upon old logs and stumps, in woods, in the fall. Figure 439 will give an idea of their appearance when in dense clusters. The plants photographed by Dr. Kellerman.

Helotium lutescens. Fr.

YELLOWISH HELOTIUM.

Lutescens means yellowish. The plants are small, sessile, or attached by a very short stem; closed at first, then expanding until nearly plane; disk yellow, smooth; asci clavate, 8 spored; spores hyaline, smooth.

Gregarious or scattered. Found on half-decayed branches.

Helotium aeruginosum. Fr.

THE GREEN HELOTIUM.

AEruginosum means verdigris-green. Gregarious or scattered, staining the wood on which they grow to a deep verdigris-green; ascophore at first turbinate and closed, then expanding, the margin usually wavy and more or less irregular; flexible, glabrous, even, somewhat contracted, and minutely wrinkled when dry; every part a deep verdigris-green, the disc often becoming paler with a tinge of tan color; 1-4 mm. across; stem 1-3 mm. long, expanding into the ascophore; hypothecium and excipulum formed of interlaced, hyaline hyphae, 3-4u. thick, these becoming stouter and colored green in the cortex; asci narrowly cylindric-clavate, apex slightly narrowed, 8-spored; spores irregularly 2-seriate, hyaline or with a slight tinge of green, very narrowly cylindric-fusiform, straight or curved, 10-14x2.5-3.5u. 2-gutullate, or with several minute green oil globules; paraphyses slender, with a tinge of green at the tip. Massee.

Massee calls this Chlorosplenium aeruginosum, De Not. It is quite common on oak branches, staining to a deep green the wood upon which it grows. It is widely distributed, specimens having been sent me from as far east as Massachusetts. The mycelium-stains in the wood are met more frequently than the fruit.

Bulgaria. Fr.

Bulgaria—probably first found in that principality.

Receptacle orbicular, then truncate, glutinous within, at first closed; hymenium even, persistent, smooth.

Bulgaria inquinans. Fr.

THE BLACKISH BULGARIA.



Inquinans means befouling or polluting; so called because of the blackish, gelatinous coating of the cap.

Receptacle orbicular, closed at first, then opening, forming a cup, as shown on the right in Figure 440; disk or cup becoming plane; black, sometimes becoming lacunose; tough, elastic, gelatinous, dark-brown, or chocolate, almost black, wrinkled, and rough externally; stem very short, almost obsolete; cup light umber; sporidia large, elliptical, brown.

This plant is quite plentiful in some localities near Chillicothe. It is found in woods, on oak trunks or limbs partially decayed.



CHAPTER XIII.

NIDULARIACEAE—BIRD'S NEST FUNGI.

Spores produced on sporophores, compacted into one or more globose or disciform bodies, contained within a distinct peridium. Berkeley.

There are four genera included in this order.

Cyathus—Peridium cup-shaped, composed of three different membranes. Crucibulum—Peridium of a uniform spongy membrane. Nidularia—Peridium globose, sporangia enveloped in mucus. Sphaerobolus—Peridium double, sporangia ejected singly.

Cyathus. Pers.

Cyathus is from a Greek word meaning a cup.

The peridium is composed of three membranes very closely related, closed at first by a white membrane, but finally bursting at the top. Sporangia plane, umbilicate, attached to the wall by an elastic cord.

Cyathus striatus. Hoffm.

STRIATE CYATHUS.



The plants are small, obconic, truncate, broadly open; externally ferruginous, with a hairy tomentum, internally lead-color, smooth, striated.

The sporangia are somewhat trigonous, whitish, broadly umbilicate; covering of the cup thin, evanescent, somewhat thicker underneath, and cottony, often covered with down-like meal.

The spores are thick and oblong.

This is a very interesting little plant. It is quite widely distributed. I have had it from several states, including New England. It is easily identified by the striations, or lines, on the inside of the cup, being the only species thus marked by internal striae. The peridioles of the species fill only the lower part of the cup, below the striations.

Cyathus vernicosus. D. C.

VARNISHED CYATHUS.



Vernicosus means varnished. It is bell-shaped, base narrowly subsessile, broadly open above, somewhat wavy; externally rusty-brown, silky tomentose, finally becoming smooth, internally lead-colored.

The sporangia are blackish, frequently somewhat pale, even; covering rather thick, sprinkled with a grayish meal. Spores elliptical, colorless, 12-14x10u. I have frequently seen the ground in gardens and stubble-fields covered with these beautiful little plants. The quite firm, thick, and flaring cup will easily distinguish the species. The eggs or peridioles are black and quite large, appearing white because covered with a thin white membrane. Found in late summer and fall. The plants in Figure 442 were photographed by Prof. G. D. Smith.

Cyathus stercoreus.



Stercoreus is from stercus, dung. This species, as the name suggests, is found on manure or manured grounds. Mr. Lloyd gives the following description: "The cups are even inside, and with shaggy hairs outside. When old they become smoother, and are sometimes mistaken for Cyathus vernicosus. However when once learned, the plants can be readily distinguished by the cups. Cyathus stercoreus varies considerably, however, as to shape and size of cups, according to habitat. If growing on a cake of manure, they are shorter and more cylindrical; if in loose manured ground, especially in grass, they are more slender and inclined to a stalk at the base." The peridioles or eggs are blacker than other species. They are found in late summer and fall.

Crucibulum. Tul.

The peridium consists of a uniform, spongy, fibrous felt, closed by a flat scale-like covering of the same color.

The sporangia are plane, attached by a cord, springing from a small nipple-like tubercle.

This genus is distinguished from Cyathus, its nearest ally, by the peridial wall, consisting of two layers only.

Crucibulum vulgare. Tul.



The peridium is tan-colored, thick externally nearly even, internally quite even, smooth, shining; mouths of young plants are covered with a thin yellowish membrane called the epiphragm. When old the cups bleach out and lose their yellow color. The peridioles or eggs are white, that is they are covered with a white membrane. Their yellowish color and white eggs will readily distinguish this species.

They are found on decayed weeds, sticks, and pieces of wood. The specimens in the halftone grew on an old mat and were photographed by Mr. C. G. Lloyd.

Nidularia. Tul.

The peridium is uniform, consisting of a single membrane; globose, at first closed, finally ruptured or opening with a circular mouth.

The sporangia are quite small and numerous, not attached by a funiculus to the peridium, enveloped in mucus.

Nidularia pisiformis. Tul.

PEA-SHAPED NIDULARIA.



Pisiformis is from two Latin words meaning pea and form.

The plant is gregarious, nearly round, sessile, rootless, hairy, brown or brownish, splitting irregularly.

The sporangia are subrotund or discoidal in form, dark brown, smooth, shining.

The spores are colorless, round or elliptical or pear-shaped, produced on sterigmata, 7-8x8-9u. Sometimes found on the ground and on leaves, but their favorite home is an old log. Found from July to September.



CHAPTER XIV.

SUB-CLASS BASIDIOMYCETES.

GROUP GASTROMYCETES.

Gastromycetes is from two Greek words: gaster, stomach; mycetes, fungus. We have already seen that, in the group, Hymenomycetes, the spore-bearing surface is exposed as in the common mushroom or in the pore-bearing varieties, but in the Gastromycetes the hymenium is inclosed in the rind or peridium. The word peridium comes from peridio (I wrap around); because the peridium entirely envelops the spore-bearing portion, which, in due time, sheds the inclosed spores that have been formed inside the basidia and spicules, as will be seen in Figure 2. The cavity within the peridium consists of two parts: the threaded part, called the capillitium, which can be seen in any dried puffball, and a cellular part, called the gleba, which is the spore-bearing tissue, composed of minute chambers lined with the hymenium. The peridium breaks in various ways to permit the spores to escape. When children pinch a puffball to "see the smoke," as they say, issue from it, little do they know that they are doing just what the puffball would have them do, in order that its seeds may be scattered to the winds.

In case of the Phalloides, the hymenium deliquesces, instead of drying up.

Berkeley, in his "Outlines," gives the following characterization of this family: "Hymenium more or less permanently concealed, consisting in most cases of closely packed cells, of which the fertile ones bear naked spores in distinct spicules, exposed only by the rupture or decay of the investing coat or peridium."

The following families will be treated here:

I. Phalloideae—Terrestrial. Hymenium deliquescent. II. Lycoperdaceae—Cellular at first. Hymenium drying up in a mass of threads and spores. III. Sclerodermaceae—Peridium inclosing sporangia.

Phalloideae. Fr.

Volva universal, the intermediate stratum gelatinous. Hymenium deliquescent. Berkeley's Outlines.

The following genera will be represented:

I. Phallus—Pileus free around the stem. II. Mutinus—Pileus attached to the stem.

Phallus duplicatus. Bosc.

LACED STINKHORN.



Volva egg-shaped, thick, whitish, frequently having a pinkish tinge.

The stem is cylindrical, cellulose, tapering upward. The veil is reticulate, frequently surrounding the whole of the stem from the pileus to the volva, often torn. The pileus is pitted, deliquescent, six to eight inches high, apex acute. Spores elliptic-oblong.

I am sure I never saw finer lace-work than I have seen on this plant. A few years ago one of these plants insisted upon growing near my house, where a fence post had formerly been, with the effect of almost driving the family from home. One can hardly imagine so beautiful a plant giving off such an odor. It is not a common plant in our state.

Phallus Ravenelii. B. & C.



This plant is extremely abundant about Chillicothe. I have seen hundreds of fully developed plants on a few square yards of old sawdust; and one might easily think that all the bad smells in the world had been turned loose at that place. The eggs in the sawdust can be gathered by the bushel. In Figure 449 is represented a cluster, of these eggs. The section of an egg in the center of the cluster shows the outline of the volva, the pileus, and the embryo stem. Inside of the volva, in the middle, is the short undeveloped stem; covering the upper part and sides of the stem is the pileus; the fruit-bearing part, which is divided into small chambers, lies on the outside of the pileus. The spores are borne on club-shaped basidia as shown in Figure 448, within the chamber of the fruit-bearing part, and when the spores mature, the stem begins to elongate and force the gleba and pileus through the volva, leaving it at the base of the stem, as will be seen in Figure 448. The large egg on the left in the background of Figure 449 is nearly ready to break the volva. I brought in a large egg one evening and placed it on the mantle. Later in the evening, the room being warm, while we were reading my wife noticed this egg beginning to move and it developed in a few minutes to the shape you see in Figure 447. The development was so rapid that the motion was very perceptible. The pileus is conical in shape, and after the disappearance of the gleba the surface of the pileus is merely granular. The plants are four to six inches high. The stem is hollow and tapers from the middle to each end. This plant is also known as Dictyophora Ravenelii, Burt.



Lysurus borealis. Burt.



The receptacle is borne on a stalk, hollow, attenuated toward the base, divided above into arms, which do not join at their apices, and which bear the spore mass in their inner surfaces and sides, inclosing the spore mass when young, but later diverging.

The stem of the phalloid is white, hollow, attenuated downward; the arms are narrow, lance-shaped, with pale flesh-colored backs, traversed their entire length by a shallow furrow.

The egg in the center is about ready to break the volva and develop to a full grown plant. The plants in Figure 450 were found near Akron, Ohio, and photographed by G. D. Smith.

Mutinus. Fr.

The gleba is borne directly on the upper portion of the stem, which is hollow and composed of a single layer of tissue; and the plant has no separate pileus, by which characteristic the genus differs from Phallus.

Mutinus caninus. Fr.



The gleba-bearing portion is short, red or flesh-colored, subacute, wrinkled, the cap or gleba forming the spore-bearing mass which is usually conical, sometimes oblong or ovoid, covering one-fourth to one-sixth the total length of the stem.

The stem is elongated, spindle-shaped, hollow, cylindrical, cellular, white, sometimes rosy. The spores are elliptical, involved in a green mucus, 6x4u. The plant comes from an egg, which is about the size of a quail's egg. You can find them in the ground if you will mark the place where you have seen them growing. They are found in gardens and in old woods and thickets. I have found this species in several localities about Chillicothe, but always in damp thickets. Mr. Lloyd thought this more nearly resembled the European species than any he had seen in this country. Found in July, August, and September.

Mutinus elegans. Montagne.



The pileus is acuminate, perforated at apex. The stem is cylindrical, tapering gradually to the apex, whitish or pinkish below, pileus bright red.

The volva is oblong-ovoid, pinkish, segments two or three. The spores are elliptical-oblong. Morgan.

The odor of this plant is not as strong as in some of the Phalloids. The eggs of Phallus and Mutinus are said to be very good when fried properly, but my recollection of the odor of the plant has been too vivid for me to try them. It is usually found in mixed woods, but sometimes in richly cultivated fields. I have found them frequently about Chillicothe six to seven inches high. In Figure 452 on the right is shown an egg and above it is a section of an egg containing the embryonic plant. This plant is called by Prof. Morgan Mutinus bovinus. After seeing this picture the collector will not fail to recognize it. It is one of the curious growths in nature. Found in July and August.



CHAPTER XV.

LYCOPERDACEAE—PUFF-BALLS.

This family includes all fungi which have their spores in closed chambers until maturity. The chambers are called the gleba and this is surrounded by the peridium or rind, which in different puffballs exhibits various characteristic ways of opening to let the spores escape. The peridium is composed of two distinct layers, one called the cortex, the other the peridium proper. The plant is generally sessile, sometimes more or less stemmed, at maturity filled with a dusty mass of spores and thread.

It affords many of our most delicious fungus food products. The following genera are considered here:

I. Calvatia—The large puffball. II. Lycoperdon—The small puffball. III. Bovista—The tumbling puffball. IV. Geaster—Earth Star. V. Scleroderma—The hard puffball.

Calvatia. Fr.

This genus represents the largest sized puffballs. They have a thick cord-like mycelium rooting from the base. The peridium is very large, breaking away in fragments when ripe and exposing the gleba. The cortex is thin, adherent, often soft and smooth like kid leather, sometimes covered with minute squamules; the inner peridium is thin and fragile, at maturity cracking into areas. The capillitium is a net-work of fine threads through the tissues of spore-bearing portion; tissue, snow white at first, turning greenish-yellow, then brown; the mass of spores and the dense net-work of threads (capillitium) attached to the peridium and to the subgleba or sterile base which is cellulose; limited and concave above. Spores small, round, usually sessile.

Calvatia gigantea. Batsch.

THE GIANT PUFFBALL. EDIBLE.



This species grows to an immense size (often twenty inches in diameter); round or obovoid, with a thick mycelial cord rooting it to the ground, sessile, cortex white and glossy, sometimes slightly roughened by minute floccose warts, becoming yellowish or brown. The inner peridium is thin and fragile, after maturity breaking up into fragments, apparently without any subgleba; capillitium and spores yellowish-green to dingy-olive. The spores are round, sometimes minutely warted.

Not common about Chillicothe, but in the northwestern part of the state they are very plentiful in their season, and very large. Standing in Mr. Joseph's wood-pasture, east of Bowling Green, I have counted fifteen giant puffballs whose diameters would average ten inches, and whose cortex was as white and glossy as a new kid glove. A friend of mine, living in Bowling Green, and driving home from Deshler, saw in a wood-pasture twenty-five of these giant puffballs. Being impressed with the sight and having some grain sacks in his wagon he filled them and brought them home. He at once telephoned for me to come to his house, as the mountain was too big to take to Mohammed. He was surprised to learn that he had found that proverbial calf which is all sweet-breads. That evening we supplied twenty-five families with slices of these puffballs.

They can be kept for two or three days on ice. The photograph, taken by Prof. Shaffner of Ohio State University, will show how they look growing in the grass. They seem to delight to nestle in the tall bluegrass. This species has been classed heretofore as Lycoperdon giganteum. Found from August to October.



Calvatia lilacina. Berk.

LILAC PUFFBALL. EDIBLE.



The peridium is three to six inches in diameter; globose or depressed globose; smooth or minutely floccose or scaly; whitish, cinereous-brown or pinkish-brown, often cracking into areas in the upper part; commonly with a short, thick, stemless base; capillitium and spores purple-brown, these and the upper part of the peridium falling away and disappearing when old, leaving a cup-shaped base with a ragged margin. Spores globose, rough, purple-brown, 5-6.5 broad. Peck, 48th Rep. N. Y. State Bot.

It is very common all over the state. I have seen pastures in Shelby and Defiance counties dotted all over with this species. When the inside is white, they are very good and meaty. No puffball is poisonous, so far as is known, but if the inside has turned yellowish at all it is apt to be quite bitter. It will often be seen in pastures and open woods in the form of a cup, the upper portion having broken away and the wind having scooped out the purple spore-mass, leaving only the cup-shaped base. The specimens in Figure 457 are just beginning to crack open and to show purplish stains. They represent less than one-fourth of the natural size. They look very much like the smaller sized C. gigantea, but the purple spores and the subgleba at once distinguish the species. This species, found from July to October, is sometimes classed as Lycoperdon cyathiforme. The photograph was taken by Prof. Longyear.



Calvatia caelata. Bull.

THE CARVED PUFFBALL. EDIBLE.



Caelata, carved. Peridium large, obovoid or top-shaped, depressed above, with a stout thick base and a cord-like root. Cortex a thickish floccose layer, with coarse warts or spines above, whitish then ochraceous or finally brown, at length breaking up into areola which are more or less persistent; inner peridium thick but fragile, thinner about the apex, where it finally ruptures, forming a large, irregular, torn opening. Subgleba occupying nearly half the peridium, cup-shaped above and for a long time persistent; the mass of spores and capillitium compact, farinaceous greenish-yellow or olivaceous, becoming pale to dark-brown; the threads are very much branched, the primary branches two or three times as thick as the spores, very brittle, soon breaking up into fragments. Spores globose, even, 4-4.5 in diameter, sessile or sometimes with a short or minute pedicel. Peridium is three to five inches in diameter. Morgan.

This species is much like the preceding but can be easily distinguished by the larger size and the yellowish-olive color of the mature spore-mass. The sterile base is often the larger part of the fungus and, as will be seen in Figure 459, it is anchored by a heavy root-like growth. It is found growing on the ground in fields and thin woods. When white through and through, sliced, rolled in egg and cracker crumbs, and nicely fried, you are glad you know a puffball. Found from August to October.

Calvatia craniiformis. Schw.

THE BRAIN-SHAPED CALVATIA. EDIBLE.



Craniiformis is from Cranion, a skull; forma, a form.

The peridium is very large, obovoid or top-shaped, depressed above, the base thick and stout, with a cord-like root. The cortex is a smooth continuous layer, very thin and fragile, easily peeling off, pallid or grayish, sometimes with a reddish tinge, often becoming folded in areas; the inner peridium is thin, ochraceous to bright-brown, extremely fragile, the upper part, after maturity, breaking into fragments and falling away.

The subgleba occupies about one-half of the peridium, is cup-shaped above and for a long time persistent; the mass of spores and capillitium is greenish-yellow, then ochraceous or dirty olivaceous; the threads are very long, about as thick as the spores, branched. The spores are globose, even, 3-3.5u in diameter, with minute pedicels. Morgan.

It is difficult to distinguish this from C. lilacina when fresh, but when ripe the color will tell the species. Figure 460 shows the plant as it appears on the ground, and figure 461 shows the subgleba or sterile base, which is frequently found on the ground after weathering the winter. This plant is very common on the hillsides under small oak shrubbery. I have gathered a basketful within a few feet. They grow very large, often five to six inches in diameter, seeming to delight in rather poor soil. When the spore-mass is white this is an excellent fungus, but exceedingly bitter after it has turned yellow. Found during October and November.

Calvatia elata. Massee.

THE STEMMED CALVATIA. EDIBLE.



Elata means tall; so called from its long stem.

The peridium is round, often slightly depressed above, plicate below, where it is abruptly contracted into a long stem-like base. The base is slender, round, and frequently pitted; mycelium rather plentiful, fibrous and thread-like. When in good condition it is a rich cream color. The cortex consists of a coat of minute persistent granules or spinules. The inner peridium is white or cream-colored, becoming brown or olivaceous, quite thin and fragile, the upper part at maturity breaking up and falling away. The subgleba occupies the stem. The mass of spores and capillitium is usually brown or greenish-brown. The threads are very long, branched, branches slender. Spores round, even, sometimes slightly warted, 4-5u, with a slight pedicel.

The plant grows on low mossy grounds among bushes, especially where it is inclined to be swampy. The plant in Figure 462 was found in a sphagnum swamp near Akron and was photographed by Prof. G. D. Smith. I am inclined to think it the same as Calvatia saccata, Fr.

Lycoperdon. Tourn.

Mycelium fibrous, rooting from the base. Peridium small, globose, obovoid or turbinate, with a more or less thickened base; cortex a subpersistent coat of soft spines, scales, warts or granules; inner peridium thin, membranaceous, becoming papyraceous, dehiscent by a regular apical mouth. Morgan.

This genus includes puffballs with apical openings and is divided into two series, a purple-spored and an olive-spored series. The microscope shows that the gleba is composed of a great number of spores mixed with simple or branched threads. There are two sets of threads; one set arises from the peridial wall and the other from the subgleba or columella.

PURPLE-SPORED SERIES.

Lycoperdon pulcherrimum. B. & C.

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PUFFBALL. EDIBLE.



Pulcherrimum, most beautiful. The peridium is obovoid, with a short base, the mycelium forming a cord like a root. The cortex is covered with long white spines, converging at the apex, as will be seen in Figure 463. The spines soon fall from the upper part of the peridium, leaving the inner peridium with a smooth purplish-brown surface, often slightly scarred by the base of the spine. The subgleba occupies at least a third of the peridium. The spores and the capillitium are at first olivaceous, then brownish-purple, the spores rough and minutely warted. The plant is one to two inches in diameter. It is found in low, rich ground, in fields and wood margins. Only young and fresh plants are good.

The lower plant in Figure 463 shows where the spines have begun to fall, also the strong mycelial cord referred to in the description. I am indebted to Mr. Lloyd for the photograph. Found in September and October.

Lycoperdon umbrinum. Pers.

THE SMOOTH PUFFBALL. EDIBLE.

Umbrinum, dingy umber. Peridium obovate, nearly sub-turbinate, with a soft, delicate, velvety bark; yellowish; inner peridium smooth and glossy, opening by a small aperture. The spores and capillitium, olivaceous, then purplish-brown. The capillitium with a central columella. A very attractive little plant, not frequently found. This plant is also called L. glabellum. In woods, September and October.

OLIVE-SPORED SERIES.

Lycoperdon gemmatum. Batsch.

THE GEMMED PUFFBALL. EDIBLE.



The peridium is turbinate, depressed above; the base short and obconic, or more elongated and tapering, or subcylindric, arising from a fibrous mycelium. The cortex consists of long, thick, erect spines or warts of irregular shape, with intervening smaller ones, whitish or gray in color, sometimes with a tinge of red or brown; the larger spines first fall away, leaving pale spots on the surface, and giving it a reticulate appearance. The subgleba is variable in amount, usually more than half the peridium; mass of spores and capillitium greenish-yellow, then pale-brown; threads simple or scarcely branched, about as thick as the spores. Spores globose, even, or very minutely warted. Morgan.

The species is readily recognized by the large erect spines which, because of their peculiar form and color, have given the notion of gems, whence the name of the species. These and the reticulations can be seen in Figure 465 by the aid of a glass. They are frequently found about Chillicothe.

Lycoperdon subincarnatum. Pk.

THE PINKISH PUFFBALL. EDIBLE.



Subincarnatum means pale flesh-color. The peridium is globe-shaped, sessile, without a stem-like base. Not large, rarely over one inch in diameter. The subgleba is present but small. The outer peridium is pinkish-brown, with minute short, stout spinules, which fall away at maturity, leaving the inner ash-colored peridium neatly pitted by the falling off of the spinules of the outer coat, the pits not being surrounded by dotted lines. The capillitium and spores are first greenish-yellow, then brownish-olive. The threads are long, simple, and transparent. The columella is present and the spores are round and minutely warted.

They are often found in abundance on decayed logs, old stumps, and on the ground about stumps where the ground is especially full of decayed wood. They are found from August to October.

Lycoperdon cruciatum. Roth.



Peridium broadly ovate, often much depressed, plicate underneath, with a cord-like root; cortex a dense white coat of convergent spines, which at maturity peel off in flakes, as can be seen in the photograph, revealing a thin furfuraceous layer of minute yellowish scales covering the inner peridium. The subgleba broad, occupying about one-third of the cavity. The spores and capillitium are dark-brown. This species is very hard to distinguish from Wrightii. It was once called separans because of the fact that the outer coat separates, or peels off, so readily from the inner peridium. Found in open woods, or along paths in open woods or pastures.

From July to October.

Lycoperdon Wrightii. B. & C.

EDIBLE.



The specific name is in honor of Charles Wright. The peridium is globe-like, sessile, white, minutely spinulose, often converging at the apex; when denuded, smooth or minutely velvety.

The spores and capillitium greenish-yellow, then brown-olive; the columella present, but very small. Spores small, smooth, 3-4u.

The plants are very small, scarcely more than two cm. in diameter. They are generally caespitose in short grass, along paths, and in sandy places.

I have frequently seen the ground white with them on Cemetery Hill where the specimens in Figure 468 were found. They were photographed by Dr. Kellerman. Found from July to the last of October.

Lycoperdon pyriforme. Schaeff.

THE PEAR-SHAPED PUFFBALL. EDIBLE.



Pyriforme means pear-shaped. The peridium is ovate or pear-shaped, with a profusion of mycelial threads, as will be seen in Figure 470.

The cortex is covered with a thin coat of minute brownish scales or granules, which are quite persistent. These can be seen in the photograph by the aid of a glass. They are sessile or have a short stem-like base; the subgleba is small and compact; the capillitium and spores are first white, then greenish-yellow, then dingy olivaceous; the inner coat is smooth, papery, whitish-gray or brownish, opening by an apical mouth; the spores are round, even, greenish-yellow to brownish-olive.

They grow in dense clusters, as will be seen in Figure 470. An entire log and stump, about four feet high, and the roots around it, were covered, as shown in Plate LXII. I gathered about three pecks, at this one place, to divide with my friends. It is one of the most common puffballs, and you may usually be sure of getting some, if you go into the woods where there are decayed logs and stumps. A friend of mine, who goes hunting with me occasionally, eats them as one would eat cherries.

Found from July to November.



Lycoperdon pusillum. Pr.

THE SMALL LYCOPERDON. EDIBLE.

Pusillum means small.

Peridium is one-fourth to one inch broad, globose, scattered or cespitose, sessile, radicating, with but little cellular tissue at the base, white, or whitish, brownish when old, rimose-squamulose or slightly roughened with minute floccose or furfuraceous persistent warts; capillitium and spores greenish-yellow, then dingy olivaceous. Spores smooth 4u in diameter. Peck.

These are found from June to cool weather in the fall, in pastures where the grass is eaten short. When mature they dehisce by a small opening, and when broken open will disclose the olive or greenish-yellow capillitium. The spores are of the same color, smooth and round.

Lycoperdon acuminatum. Bosc.

THE POINTED LYCOPERDON. EDIBLE.

Acuminatum means pointed.

The peridium is small, round, then egg-shaped; with a plentiful mass of mycelium in the moss in which the plants seem to delight. The plant is white and the outer rind is soft and delicate. There is no subgleba; the spores and capillitium are pale-greenish-yellow, then a dirty gray. The threads are simple, transparent, much thicker than the spores. The spores are round, smooth, 3u in diameter.

I have found the plants frequently about Chillicothe on damp, moss-covered logs and sometimes at the base of beech trees, when covered with moss. They are very small, not exceeding one-half inch in diameter. The small ovoid form, with the white, soft, delicate cortex, will serve to distinguish the species. Found from September to October.

Bovista. Dill.

The genus Bovista differs from Lycoperdon in several ways. When the Bovista ripens it breaks from its moorings and is blown about by the wind. It opens by an apical mouth, as does the genus Lycoperdon, but the species of Bovista have no sterile base. They are puffballs of small size. The outer coat is thin and fragile and at maturity peels off, leaving an inner coat firm, papery, and elastic, just such a coat as is suitable for the dispersion of its spores. Leaving its moorings at maturity, it is blown about the fields and woods, and with every tumble it makes it scatters some of its spores. It may take years to accomplish this perfectly. The species of the Lycoperdon do not leave their moorings naturally; their spores are dispersed through an apical mouth by a collapse of the walls of the peridium, after the fashion of a bellows, by which spores are driven out to the pleasure of the wind. In Bovista the threads are free or separate from the peridium, but in Lycoperdon they arise from the peridium and also from the columella.