Ground in copses and in pine woods. West Albany and North Greenbush. Autumn. Peck, 31st Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Ohio, Morgan; Wisconsin, Trelease; West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey. Frequent. Autumn. McIlvaine.
One of the prettiest Lycoperdons. Symmetrical, and otherwise attractive. Sweet, firm, solid. It is not high in flavor, but is delicate.
L. elonga´tum Berk.—elongated. Peridium globose above, contracted below into a stout thick base, more or less elongated and cylindric or tapering downward; mycelium composed of thick fibers. Cortex a loose flocculose white or yellowish coat, drying up into a mealy or furfuraceous persistent layer, which scarcely reveals the pale shining surface of the inner peridium. Subgleba occupying more than half the interior of the peridium; mass of spores and capillitium pale olivaceous, then pale brown or finally purplish; the threads much branched, the main stem much thicker than the spores, the branches tapering. Spores globose, distinctly warted, 5.5–6.5µ in diameter.
Growing on the ground in damp woods. Ohio, Morgan. Peridium 1–2 in. in diameter and 2–3 in. in height, the base ¾-1 in. in thickness. In form it somewhat resembles L. gemmatum, but it has a cortex like that of L. glabellum. Morgan.
New York, Peck, 49th Rep. Closely allied to L. glabellum. Its stout elongated base serves as a mark of distinction.
Ohio, Morgan; Pennsylvania, Washington, Pa., Myc. Club.
Not common. Sometimes tufted, three or four together. Edible, good.
L. el´egans Morgan—elegant. Peridium large, depressed globose, plicate underneath and sometimes with a narrow umboniform base, which is continuous with the thick root. Cortex at first flocculose, white or yellowish, drying up into a dense furfuraceous persistent coat, which becomes ochraceous or brownish in color, and sometimes obscurely areolate. Subgleba broad, convex above, occupying a third part or more of the peridium; mass of spores and capillitium olivaceous, then pale-brown or finally purplish-brown; the threads much branched, the main stem thicker than the spores, the branches long and tapering. Spores globose, distinctly warted, 5–6µ, in diameter.
Growing on rich soil on the open prairie about Iowa City, Ia., Prof. T.H. McBride. Peridium 1½-3 in. in diameter. In form and size this species somewhat resembles Calvatia fragilis, but the threads are arranged in two sets as in Lycoperdon; the cortex is similar to that of L. glabellum; the mycelium forms a remarkably thick root. Morgan.