C. cyathifor´mis Bosc.—cup-shaped. (L. cyathiforme Bosc.) (Plate [CLXII], p. 584.) Peridium 3–6 in. 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, stem-like 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, 5–6.5µ broad. Peck, 48th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Common over United States. Indiana, H.I. Miller; West Virginia, New Jersey. On open grassy ground. July to October. McIlvaine.
Often a queer, ragged, cup-shaped, purplish mass is noticed protruding from the ground, looking as if the upper half had been cut off horizontally. This is the mature C. cyathiformis, or rather, what is left of it. The upper half has blown away and is spreading its spores elsewhere.
A first-class Lycoperdon, meaty and of excellent flavor. When it occurs, it is usually in plenty. On the great parade ground at Mt. Gretna, Pa., it annually appears in large quantities. Cows are fond of it, and it is this fungus which is currently believed among farmers to affect milk. I have watched cows pawing it to pieces and eating portions of it.
C. fra´gilis Vitt.—fragile. Peridium obovoid, plicate below, with a short-pointed base and a cord-like root. Cortex a smooth continuous layer, very thin and fragile, separable, white or grayish, becoming brownish and tinged with violet and purple, commonly areolate above; inner peridium thin, violet to purple, velvety, extremely fragile, after maturity the upper part soon breaking up into fragments and falling away. Subgleba occupying but a small portion of the peridium, cup-shaped above, persistent; mass of spores and capillitium from violet to pale purple; the threads very long, mostly thinner than the spores, scarcely branched. Spores globose, minutely warted, 4–5.5µ in diameter, sessile.
Growing on the open prairies. Wisconsin, Brown; Iowa, McBride; Nebraska, Wyoming, Webber; Kansas, Cragin; California, Harkness. Peridium 1½-3 in. in diameter. Morgan.
Not seen by writer. Doubtless edible.
C. sigilla´ta Cragin—adorned with figures. Peridium large, depressed above, narrowed below into a stem-like base. Cortex very thin and fragile, white, easily abraded; inner peridium subcoriaceous, with a fragile rust-color brown lining, marked off above into polygonal areas by lines of depression, at length breaking up into fragments and falling away. Mass of spores and capillitium violet to dark-purple. Spores globose, even, 3.5–4.5µ in diameter, with a long pedicel.
Growing on the open prairie. Kansas, Cragin. Peridium 4–5 in. in diameter. The species is well marked by the even pedicellate spores. Morgan.
C. cæla´ta Bull.—carved in relief. (L. cæla´tum Bull.; L. bovista Pers.) 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 lacerate aperture. Subgleba occupying nearly half the peridium, cup-shaped above and a long time persistent; mass of spores and capillitium compact, farinaceous, greenish-yellow or olivaceous, becoming pale to dark-brown; the threads 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, 4–4.5µ in diameter, sessile or sometimes with a short or minute pedicel.