Photo by C. G. Lloyd.
Plate LXV. Figure 477.—Scleroderma geaster.
Geaster, so called because it has a star-like opening somewhat similar to the genus Geaster.
Peridium subglobose, thick, with a very short stem, or almost—sometimes entirely—sessile; hard, rough, splitting into irregular stellate limbs; frequently well buried in the ground. Inner mass dark-brown or blackish, sometimes with rather a purplish tinge. Some grow quite large with the peridium very thick. My attention was first attracted by some of the peridium shells upon the ground on Cemetery Hill. The plant is quite abundant there from September to December.
Catastoma. Morgan.
This is a small puffball-like plant, growing just beneath the ground and attached to its bed by very small threads which issue from every part of the cortex, which is quite thick. Breaking away at maturity in a circumscissile manner, the lower part is held fast to the ground, while the upper part remains attached to the inner peridium as a kind of cup. The inner peridium, with the top part of the outer peridium attached, becomes loose and tumbles over the ground, the mouth being in the base of the plant as it grew.
Catastoma circumscissum. B. & C.
Photo by C. G. Lloyd.