Tlypogmi^ or Hymenogastrece. — Hymenium permanent, not becoming 

 dustj'' or deliquescent except when decayed. Capillitium wanting. 

 Subterranean. 



Nidulariacem. — Receptacle cup-shaped or globose ; spores produced on 

 sporopbores or short basidia enclosed in globose or disciform bodies 

 (sporangia) contained within a distinct peridium. Terrestrial. 



The section Lycoperdacese contains upwards of 500 species or more 

 than two-thirds of the whole number of recorded species of the Gaster- 

 omycetes. Lycoperdon, Bovista, and Geaster, its most conspicuous genera, 

 are said to contain the largest number of well-known species. A few are 

 edible. 



The Phalloidese include about 90 species. The plants are usually ill- 

 smelling and unwholesome. Some are stipitate, others are latticed, etc. 

 Some are conspicuous for their bright coloring. In the young stage 

 they are enclosed in an egg-shaped volva having a gelatinous inner 

 stratum. 



The plants of the Nidulariacese are very minute, tough, and widely 

 distributed. The species Cyathus, the " bird's-nest fungus," is quite 

 common in some localities, and is interesting because of its j)eculiar form. 

 The individual plant is very small, not more than two centimeters high. 

 It resembles an inverted bell, or a miniature wine-glass. A delicate white 

 membrane covers the top at first. This disappears as the plant matures, 

 revealing lentil-shaped bodies packed closely together like eggs in a nest. 

 These oval bodies are the peridiola containing the spores. They are 

 usually found upon rotton wood or sticks on the ground. Sixty-five 

 species are recorded, but none are edible. 



The plants of the division Hypog?ei or Hymenogastrece are subterranean 

 in habit, preferring a sandy soil. They a re usually somewhat globose in 

 form, having a thick outer coat or peridium, though in some of the genera 

 the outer coat is very thin or obsolete. They are dingy in color. In the 

 young plants the interior substance somewhat resembles that of the 

 truffle, but is streaked and mottled. When old the gleba consists of a 

 dusty mass of threads and spores. They are known under various appel- 

 lations, such as " underground puff-balls," " false truffles," etc. 



The Hypogaei are analogous to the Tuberacei, except that the spores 

 are not contained in asci as iu the latter. Cooke says they appear to be 

 the link which unites the Basidiomycetes to the Ascomycetes by means 

 of the Tuberacei or genuine Truffles. In the young stage the basidia in 

 the Hypogfei are easily distinguished by the aid of the microscope. 



In external features and habit of growth the species of Elaphomyces, 

 a genus of Tuberacei, closely resemble the Hypogpei, and in old age, 

 when the asci have disappeared, it is difficult to distinguish the plants of 

 this genus from the Hypogfei. 



The genus Melanogaster contains an edible species, M. variegatiis, 

 Tulasne, commonly known in Europe as the "Red Truffle" or "False 



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