78 THE GASTEROMYCETES OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA 



679. In grass on shaded lawn, Oct. 4, 1908. 

 1001. In pine woods, Sept. 15, 1913. Spores olivaceous, 3.7-4.6m thick. Subgleba in some plants 



purple. 

 1027. Under cedars near campus. The plants in this collection were fully mature and were a pale 



earth color (gray brown) outside; the spores and capillitium somewhat deeper earth color 



within, and with a slight tint of olive. Spores 3.7-4/1 thick, smooth, spherical. Capillitium 



delicate, branched, diameter of spores and tapering at the ends. 

 7215. On ground in pine woods, Nov. 17, 1923. One plant in this typical lot was strong golden yellow 



on one side shading to brownish yellow on the other. 



Also Nos. 1003a, 1004, 1026, 1762, 3233, 5921, 7103, 7148. 

 Asheville. Beardslee, coll. 

 Blowing Rock. Coker, coll. 

 Hendersonville. Alma Holland, coll. (U. N. C. Herb.). Spores 3.5-4/t. 



Virginia. Warrenton. Coker, coll. (U. N. C. Herb.) 



Florida. Alachua Co. Couch, coll. June 22, 1924. (U. N. C. Herb. Nos. 7253 and 7254.) 



New York. West Albany. Peck, coll. (Albany Herb.). Also other New York plants from Peck 



at N. Y. B. G. 

 Wisconsin. (U. N. C. Herb, from Univ. Wisconsin Herb.) Spores minutely but distinctly warted, 



3.7-4.2/1, no pedicel. 

 Eagle Heights. Sept. 1903. (Univ. Wis. Herb, and U. N. C. Herb.) Spores distinctly rough, 



4.2-5n, no pedicel. 

 Canada. London. Dearness, No. 915. (Dearness Herb, as L. molle.) Spores nearly smooth, with a 



short pedicel, 3.4-4^. 



Lycoperdon acuminatum Bosc 



L. leprosum Berk. & Rav. in Peck 

 L. calyptrijorme Berk. 



Plates 49 and 113 



Plants very small, 3-9 mm., shaped like an inverted top or long, pointed egg, with a 

 small apical pore in age; cortex composed of a thin, spongy or granular scurf which very 

 slowly wears away exposing the dull inner peridium or in rare cases the cortex may as- 

 sume the form of short fascicled spines up to 1 mm. long above (as in plants from Cin- 

 cinnati and Newfield entered below) ; color whitish or pale tan, inner peridium yellowish 

 to gray or pale gray-brown in color. The entire peridium wall is very thin and delicate. 

 Gleba pale brown with a slight olivaceous tint. Subgleba none. 



Spores (of No. 680) pale olivaceous, then dirty gray, globular, 3.3-4a< thick, smooth, 

 walls fairly thick, a large oil drop and a short mucro. Capillitium simple, about the 

 color of the spores, up to 10.8^ in diameter, averaging about 5.5-6^. 



This is the smallest known puff ball and it is remarkable in its habit of growing on 

 mossy places on the bark of living tree trunks at some distance (usually 4-15 feet) 

 from the ground. Others give the habitat as on old logs or around the mossy bases of 

 living trees, but with us it always grows on living trunks. We have never found it 

 near the ground. It has exactly the same habits and preferences for cold weather that 

 Geaster leptospermus shows, and may often be found associated with it. This is the 

 same as L. leprosum in the sense of Ravenel, Peck, and others, as shown by plants from 

 their herbaria. The capillitium of Peck's plants shows slight branching, whereas in our 

 plants it is simple or very rarely branched, agreeing with Lloyd's description. 



