SCLERODERMATACEAE 163 



surface rather light straw-yellow, more or less cracked above and on the sides into small 

 to large, inherent , Bat areas like dried mud or in a more one-sided way to give a shingled 

 appearance (in some specimens the greater part not cracked); peridium tough, thin, 

 only 0.5 1 mm. thick (dry), splitting above into several persistent lobes that open up 

 irregularly (stellate, incurved or erect) to expose the spore mass, which varies remark- 

 ably in color in our collections, as fuscous then mummy brown (Ridgway) at full 

 maturity in No. 5S57. while in No. 675 it is Saccardo's umber. 



Spores (of No, 675) spherical, 7.4-12.9/u, including the stout spines which reach a 

 length of 1.5/i and not rarely show faint traces of a halo around their tips. They are 

 mixed with numerous threads of the persistent trama which under the lens are nearly 

 hyaline, branched, and 2.5-4.5^ thick. 



This is a good species and easily separated from 5. geaster, its nearest relative, by 

 the smaller size, much smoother and thinner peridium and the larger spores with longer 

 spines. Before opening the plants are partly or almost completely buried in the earth. 

 The spore color of No. 675 is nearly the same as our S. bovista (sense of Bresadola), 

 but the spores of the latter are entirely different, much larger and with a conspicuous 

 and perfect reticulum. Smooth forms of the present species approach S. cepa in ap- 

 pearance, but that can be separated from this by the thinner, more flexible, and gen- 

 erally darker peridium. 



We have studied an authentic specimen of this species (E. & E., N. Amer. Fungi, 

 No. 169S, 2nd ser.) and find the spores to be spherical or nearly so, spiny-warted, 8-12/x 

 thick. 



660. On ditch bank at side of road west of Carrboro, Nov. 3, 1912. Spores 7.8-14/1 counting spines, 



which are rarely up to 3/i long, usually shorter. 

 3109. Pasture by New Hope Creek, June 23, 1918. Spores spherical, 7.8-14.8/1 thick counting spines, 



which are rarely up to 3m long. 

 7562. In poor soil on campus, Oct. 14, 1924. Spores spiny, 8-1 lju. 



Raleigh. L. R. Detjen, No. 1889. Near an old stump in a yard, Oct. 9, 1915. Spores S-ll/i, 



excluding the spines which are up to 2y. long. 

 Asheville. Beardslee. Sept. 18, 1918. Spores 7.5-13p thick, counting spines, which are not rarely 



up to iy, long. This plant agrees perfectly with our Chapel Hill plants. 

 Mecklenburg Co. On sandy bank, July 21, 1924. Couch, coll. (U. N. C. Herb., No. 7444). 

 Bladen Co. In sandy loam, Sept. 6, 1924. Alma Holland, coll. (U. N. C. Herb., No. 7509). 

 Spores very dark, strongly spiny-warted, 9.7-14.8^, with a halo. 

 South Carolina. Hartsville. Coker, No. 675. Sandy soil on Coker College campus, Nov. 1908. 

 No. 1962. In Bermuda grass lawn, Oct. 23, 1915. Spores 9.3-11^ thick, distinctly spiny. 

 No. 5857. Again on Coker College campus, Aug. 30, 1922. Spores 7-10.5^, excluding the 

 spines which are up to X.ly. long; hyaline threads mixed with the spores. No. 6022. On 

 Coker College campus, Dec. 26, 1922. 

 Florida. Mell, coll. (N. Y. B. G. Herb.). 



Alabama. Reported as common. (Bull. Ala. Agric. Exp. Sta. 80: 268. 1897). 

 Mississippi. Biloxi. Tracy, coll. (N. Y. B. G. Herb.). 

 Wisconsin. Palmyra. (Univ. Wis. Herb, and U. N. C. Herb.) 



Scleroderma bovista Fr. Sense of Hollos 



Plates 89 and 120 



Plants roughly spherical, usually flattened horizontally, at times lobed, about 

 1.5-4 cm. broad, narrowly or rather broadly attached to earth by a thick or slender root 

 which diffuses at once into mycelial plates and fibers; surface when young smooth, dull, 





