94 THE GASTEROMYCETES OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA 



crete warts or nodules which during maturity become dark brown to nearly black and 

 slowly wear away separately, exposing the shining bright brown peridium. Young 

 gleba white then passing through yellowish to dull dark brown at maturity; subgleba 

 very small, with small but distinct cavities under a lens. Odor while maturing strong 

 and fragrant. 



Spores (of No. 8044) spherical, nearly smooth but not quite, 3.5-4^ thick. Capil- 

 litium (of No. 8108) irregular, main branches 4-5. 5m thick; color dull brown with a 

 tint of vinaceous under the microscope, no obvious pits in the walls. 



Until dulled by maturity, this striking plant is by far the most brilliant of our 

 puffballs. No description by others suggests the brilliant orange of our mountain 

 plant, though Peck speaks of the species as conspicuous. While the plant may be only a 

 form of L. polymorphum, it is so conspicuous and distinctive in itself that it will do no 

 harm to retain Peck's name for it. In the mountains of western North Carolina, L. 

 piisillum grows in pastures, and L. coloratum in the woods. They are strikingly 

 different. 



Illustrations: ? Morgan. Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist. 14: pi. 2, fig. 10. 

 PTrelease. Morels and Puffballs of Madison, pi. 2, fig. 2. 



North Carolina. Haywood County. On ground in mixed woods by Crawford's Creek, Aug. 2, 1926. 

 Coker, coll. (U. N. C. Herb., No. 7995). Under rhododendron and hemlock by Cold Creek, 

 Aug. 6, 1926. Coker and Totten, colls. (U. N. C. Herb., No. 8044). Woods mold by Cold 

 Creek, Aug. 8, 1926. Coker, coll. (U. N. C. Herb., No. 8108). 



BOVISTELLA Morgan 



Plants subglobose and permanently attached by a rooting base; inner peridium 

 thin, flaccid, opening by a definite, apical pore, and collapsing as the spores escape; 

 capillitium as in Bovista, of distinct units with all the ends tapering and not connected 

 with the peridium; but in some cases very slender and not abundantly branched; 

 spores oval or subglobose, smooth (at least in American species), and with long pedicels. 



Separated from Lycoperdon by the discrete, branched units of the capillitium; 

 from Calvatia by this character and by the torn mouth ; and from Bovista by the col- 

 lapsing inner peridium, and by the permanent attachment to the soil. The above is 

 essentially the conception of the genus by Morgan who established it (see below), 

 except that we are including species without a sterile base, as does Lloyd. We are not 

 following Lloyd in including plants with long, intertwined capillitium fibers which arise 

 from the periphery as in Lycoperdon. Without this character we would not know how 

 to separate the latter. Lloyd would extend the limits of the genus as follows (Myc. 

 Notes No. 23: 277. 1906). 



"Peridium flaccid, with or without a sterile base, opening by a definite mouth. 

 Capillitium of short, separate threads or long, intertwined threads. Spores pedicel- 

 late." Note that the flaccid peridium is the only character in this definition that would 

 exclude species of Bovista. However, in his discussion, Lloyd makes the further dis- 

 tinction of the breaking away from the base in Bovista and the permanent attachment of 

 Lycoperdae, including Bovistella. He says that frequently the characteristic capillitium 

 and pedicellate spores are associated in the same plant, but not always, and he would 

 "embrace in the genus Bovistella all plants of the tribe Lycoperdae that have either or 

 both of these characters." 



