14 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



tion above ground is only the fruiting part, picking it off only 

 induces another to develop. To be entirely rid of the object- 

 ionable squatter, the owner of the land must dig up the soil 

 where it grows to destroy the underground vegetative por- 

 tion. While doing so, he may console himself with the 

 thought that these plants "attain their highest development in 

 warmer latitudes." In Europe the peasantry call them the 

 Devil's horns or Devil's stinkpots. In this country they are 

 usually designated as stink-horns. They ordinarily consist of 

 a thick white stalk from two to seven inches long, which in 

 our common species, is capped with a conical structure covered 

 with a slimy green substance that contains the spores. The 

 plant has cunningly planned to have the insects instead of the 

 wind, distribute its spores and is one of the few fungi that has 

 evolved such methods. The odor, so vile to our nostrils, at- 

 tracts the flies, just as the odor of the carrion-flower does, and 

 these insects walking about over the fungus, get the spores at- 

 tached to their feet and legs and so distribute them.. 



The morels are much like the stink-horns in appearance 

 but have no offensive odor. The common species may be 

 known by their netted or honeycombed caps. They are found 

 growing beneath trees. Some specimens grow to be a foot 

 high, but much lower plants are the rule. They are plants of 

 spring and early summer, disappearing in the northern states 

 by July. "No morel is known to be poisonous," writes Dr. 

 Peck, "they can therefore be eaten with considerable confi- 

 dence, even if the specific differences are not well understood." 



Probably the best known of the mushroom's relatives are 

 the puffballs called also Devil's snuff boxes. Most of these be- 

 long to the genera Lycoperdon and Cak'atia. ¥t\\ wlio have 

 visited the country in autumn have failed to notice tlie round 

 papery-skinned objects which upon being pressed between 

 thumb and fingers eject a smoke-like cloud. The particles 

 which form this cloud are the spores and the papery globe is 



