Plate G.
EDIBLE PUFF-BALLS.
Fig. 1.—Lycoperdon cælatum Fries. "Collapsing Puff-Ball."
Peridium flaccid above, with mealy coating, obtuse, at length collapsing, the sterile stratum cellulose. Inner peridium distinct from the outer all round; capillitium nearly free, collapsing when mature, threads long and brittle; spores dingy olive, turning brown; base stem-like, broad and blunt, with root, obconical, somewhat spongy. Common in pastures and open woods. Edible when young, but not much commended. Plant pale cream color.
Figs. 2 and 3.—Lycoperdon gemmatum Batsch. "Warted Puff-Ball," "Studded Puff-Ball."
Plant sub-globular, with a stem-like base; white or cinereous, turning to light greyish-brown, the surface warty, the warts unequal, the larger ones somewhat pointed, the smaller granular. As the warts fall off they leave the surface of the denuded peridium somewhat dotted or slightly reticulated. Flesh, when young, firm and whitish. The plants of this species are small, variable in form, sometimes turbinated, sometimes nearly globose, or depressed globose, but usually the basal portion is narrower than the upper portion. The stem varies in thickness and length; sometimes it is quite elongated, in some instances absent. Capillitium and spores yellowish-green, turning dark olive or brown. Columella present. When the spores are fully ripe the peridium opens by a small apical aperture for their dispersion. The plants are sometimes densely cæspitose, and crowd together on the ground or on decaying wood in large patches after warm rains. They are found both in fields and open woods during summer and autumn. They are edible when young, but not specially well flavored. There are several varieties. Plants sometimes oval or lens-shaped.
In Var. hirtum the plant is turbinate, subsessile, and hairy, with slender, spinous warts. The variety papulatum is subrotund, sessile, papillose and pulverulent, the warts being nearly uniform in size. Plants from one to two inches in height.
Figs. 4 and 5.—Lycoperdon pyriforme Schaeffer. "Pear-Shaped Puff-Ball."
Plant dingy white or brownish yellow; pear-shaped, or obovate pyriforme, sometimes approaching L. gemmatum in size and shape, but easily distinguished from that species by the surface features of the peridium and the internal hyphæ. The persistent warts which cover the surface of the peridium are so minute as to appear to the naked eye like scales. In some instances the peridium is almost smooth, and sometimes cracks in areas, inner peridium thin and tough. The hyphæ are thicker than the spores and branched, continuous with the slightly cellular base, and forming a columella inside the peridium. Spores greenish-yellow, then brownish-olive, smooth and globose.