Photographed by Dr. J.R. Weist. Plate CLXXI.
LYCOPERDON PYRIFORME.
L. calyptrifor´me Berk.—hood-shaped. Peridium about 6 lines high, 3–4 in. broad, ovate or subconical, sessile, whitish, furfuraceous with minute warts or spinules; capillitium and spores olivaceous or yellowish-olivaceous. Spores smooth, 4µ in diameter.
Moss-covered rocks. Very rare. Adirondack mountains. August.
I have met with this very small and rare species but once, and then but two specimens were found. In these the apex was compressed or laterally flattened, instead of papilliform, as required by the original description of the species; but in all other respects they agree well with the specific characters. The plant is very distinct from all our other species by its small size and ovate or conical shape. Peck, 32d Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
(k) Cortex of minute spinules, scales or granules. Lignatile.
L. pyrifor´me Schaeff.—pear-shape. (Plate [CLXXI], p. 602.) Plant 6–15 lines broad, 10–20 lines high, generally cespitose, obovate, pyriform or turbinate, sessile or with a short stem-like base, radicating with white branching and creeping root-like fibers, subumbonate, covered with very minute subpersistent, nearly uniform warts or scales, often with a few slender scattered deciduous spinules intermingled, pallid dingy-whitish or brownish; capillitium and spores greenish-yellow, then dingy-olivaceous, columella present. Spores smooth, 4µ in diameter. Edible, but not well-flavored.
Decaying wood and ground both in woods and cleared fields. Very common. July to October. Peck, 32d Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Common the world over. Growing on logs, stumps, ground containing decaying woody matter. So dense in its clusters at times as to present an impervious surface. It is slightly acrid to taste and smell when raw.
Edible. Tender and of second-class flavor when young; white inside; intensely bitter when slightest tinge of yellow is visible. One too old will embitter a whole dish. A little lemon juice or sherry improves it.