62 THE GASTEROMYCETES OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA 



7163. On the ground in a corn field, Sept. 27, 1923. 



7242. Same location as No. 7163, Feb. 15, 1924. This winter collection was less red than the others. 



Louisiana. (N. Y. B. G. Herb. No data or name) . 



Virginia. Blacksburg. Murrill, coll. (N. Y. B. G. Herb.). 



New York. New York Botanical Garden, in a dahlia bed. Miss Eaton, coll. (N. Y. B. G. Herb.). 



Illinois. Urbana. McDougall, coll. (U. N. C. Herb.). 



Missouri. St. Louis. Trelease, coll. (N. Y. B. G. Herb., as Lycoperdon delicahim) . Spores nearly 



smooth, 3.5-4^ thick, often with a short pedicel. Capillitium threads slender, 2-3. 7\i thick 



with holes in the walls. 

 Jamaica. Cinchona. On a dry bank. Murrill, coll. (N. Y. B. G. Herb.). 

 Brazil. Rick, coll. (U. N. C. Herb.). Spores apparently smooth, 3.4-4^, with a mucro. 



Calvatia maxima (Schaeff.) Morgan 

 Lycoperdon giganteum Batsch 

 Lycoperdon bovista Linn. 



Plate 112 



We take the following description from Morgan (1. c, p. 166): 



"Peridium very large, globose, depressed-globose or obovoid, with a thick cord-like 

 root. Cortex a flocculose or nearly smooth continuous layer, very thin and fragile, 

 white or grayish, changing to yellowish, drying up and becoming brown, remaining 

 closely adherent to the inner peridium or sometimes peeling off in patches ; inner perid- 

 ium thin and very fragile, after maturity gradually breaking up into fragments and 

 falling away. Subgleba very shallow or quite obsolete, when present said to be compact 

 and not cellular; mass of spores and capillitium greenish yellow, then brownish oliva- 

 ceous; the threads very long, frequently septate, branched, the primary branches much 

 thicker than the spores, the ultimate ones more slender; spores globose, even or some- 

 times very minutely warted, 3.5^1.5^ in diameter, often with a minute pedicel." 



We have examined a specimen from Madison, Wisconsin, and find the spores to be 

 smooth, subspherical, 3.5-4ju thick, with a short pedicel and a distinct oil drop; capil- 

 litium threads easily fragmented, occasionally branched, about 5.5yu thick. 



It is surprising that we have not found this huge puffball in Chapel Hill, nor has 

 Beardslee found it at Asheville. Both Schweinitz and Curtis report it, the former say- 

 ing that it may reach a breadth of three feet, but his finding it in this state is doubtful 

 as the Bovista giganlea of his herbarium is Calvatia cyathiformis (also noted by Lloyd, 

 p. 396). It occurs in meadows and is excellent food. In American Naturalist (18: 

 530. 1884) Professor C. E. Bessey records a specimen of the giant puffball found by 

 Professor R. E. Call in Herkimer County, N. Y., in 1877, that was 5 ft. 4 in. x 4 ft. 

 6 in. x 9| in. This, says Professor Bessey, is by far the largest on record. Buller 

 (Researches on Fungi, p. 85) has estimated that a large fruit body of this species 

 (40 x 28 x 20 cm.) contained over seven trillion spores. 



The species is said by Dearness to be fairly common in Ontario. 



Illustrations: Batsch. Elench. Fung., pi. 29, fig. 165. 



Berkeley. Ann. Sci. Nat., 2nd ser., 12: pi. 2, figs. 7-14. 1839. 

 Boudier. Icon. Myc, pis. 188 and 189 (as Lycoperdon bovista). 

 Gibson. Our Edible Toadstools and Mushrooms, pi. 34. 1895. 

 Hard. Mushrooms, pi. 57 and fig. 455. 



