SPORE DISCHARGE AMONG BASIDIOMYCETES 



203 



such herbivors as rabbit, horse, cow, and elephant. In 1729 Micheli 

 in his Nova Plantarum Genera first described and illustrated 

 Sphaerobolns stellatus in his Plate 86, but he employed for it the 

 name "carpobolus." Fischer (1884^ gave an account of the struc- 



Fig. 37. Structure of Sphaerobolus stellatus in diagram. A. Section of 

 mature sporocarp, with six (1-6) layers that invest the central peridiole (7). 



B. Dehiscence of sporocarp at apex. The inner membrane has liquefied. 



C. Eversion of the remaining two inner layers, by which the peridiole, D, is 



hurled away. 



tural mechanism by means of which the gleba, about the size of a 

 BB shot, is discharged. Later Walker (1927), Walker and Ander- 

 sen (1925), and Buller (1933) have painstakingly and graphically 

 worked out the details of the mechanism of this veritable fungus 

 "trench mortar." 



The peridium or wall consists of six layers: (a) an outer layer 

 of loosely interwoven hyphae, (b) a gelatinous layer penetrated 

 by hyphae, (c) a compact pseudoparenchymatous layer, (d) a 

 narrow layer of tangentially ramifying threads, (e) a layer of 



