132 BASIDIOMYCETES 



Brefeld. Untersuchnngen aus dem Gesammtgebiete der My- 

 kologie, 3 : 1-226. PI. i-ii. 1887 ; 8 : 1-305. PL 1-12. 1889. 



Order 8. PHALLALES. 



This order contains a series of most interesting fungi from the 

 standpoint of the botanist, but to most people they present only 

 their disgusting side and are regarded with aversion. The order 

 includes various species known as stink-horns and their unpleas- 

 ant odor merits for them the name. Many householders have 

 sought in vain for the remains of some dead animal on their 

 premises and have found that the cause of their discomfort was 

 one of these fungi growing unobserved from some buried organic 

 matter somewhere on their lawn. Were the sense of smell want- 

 ing or paralyzed, many of the species of this order would be re- 

 garded as beautiful objects in nature, but their intolerable odor 

 spoils for most people any natural beauty they possess. 



Like many other groups of fleshy fungi they attain their high- 

 est development in warmer latitudes. The two families, however, 

 are both represented in this country and may be distinguished as 

 follows : 



Receptacle latticed or irregularly branched, sessile or stalked ; gleba en- 

 closed by the receptacle. Fam i. Clathraceae. 

 Receptacle tubular or cylindric, capitate, with the gleba external. 



Fam. 2. Phallaceae. 



The Clathraceae are usually rare in the northern states, but in 

 the South, especially in Florida, species of Clathrus are common, 

 and their disgusting odor will frequently disclose their presence at 

 long distances. The genera known in America are as follows : 



1. Receptacle sessile, latticed, with columnar or obliquely anastomosing 



bars. Clathrus.^ 



Receptacle ovate or pyriform, nearly sessile ; gleba attached to the inner 



peridium which ruptures irregularly. Phallogaster. 



Receptacle with a tubular stalk. 2. 



2. Receptacle latticed, with the meshes of about equal diameter either way. 



SiMBLUM. 



Receptacle ending in free arms which enclose the gleba when young, but 

 afterwards diverge. Anthurus. 



* The species with columnar bars have sometimes been separated as the 

 genus Lateniea ; these are the common species of the gulf region. 



