566 CLASS BASIDIOMYCETEAE 



Sporocarps single or gregarious, not on a stroma. 

 Inner peridium thin, opening variously. 



Capillitium of more or less uniform hyphae, branched or simple. 



Outer peridium separating in granules or flakes from the inner peridium. 

 Inner peridium breaking up into flakes or fragments. 



Capillitial hyphae interwoven into a woolly ball. North and South 



America, Africa. Lanopila 



Capillitial threads not tightly interwoven, breaking into short 

 pieces at maturity. In most continents. Calvatia 



Inner peridium opening by an apical pore. The world over. 



Lycoperdon 

 Outer peridium firm, remaining attached to the upper half of the inner 

 peridium and splitting circumscissilely. Inner peridium break- 

 ing free from the basal portion of the outer peridium, open- 

 ing by a pore in the originally basal portion. Europe, America, 

 Australasia. 



Disciseda 

 (Catastoma) 

 Outer peridium firm, remaining attached to the inner peridium. At first 

 hypogeous in most cases. The whole peridium rupturing irregu- 

 larly. (This is Family Mesophelliaceae of Zeller.) 

 Spores spherical, echinulate, reticulated or verrucose. 



Gleba without a sterile base. Australia and Western United States. 



Absto77ia 

 Gleba with a sterile base. Western United States. Radiigera 

 Spores eUipsoidal, smooth or irregularly roughened. 

 Gleba with a central core. Australasia and Europe. 



Mesophellia 

 Gleba without core. Australasia. Castoreum 



Capillitium hyphae much branched, consisting of a thicker main stem and 

 tapering branches. 

 Inner peridium opening by apical pore. 



At maturity attached to the ground. Eurasia and Australasia. 



Bovistella 

 At maturity breaking loose and blown by the wind. Europe, North 

 America, and Australasia. Bovista 



Inner peridium breaking up in flakes. Western United States. 



Calbovista 

 Inner peridium thick and corky, opening irregularly or somewhat stellately. 

 Capillitium threads thick, short, spiny, with numerous thorn-like 

 processes. The world over. Mycenastrum 



Sporocarps perched close together on a stroma. 



Stroma thick, often columnar. South Africa. Broomeia 



Stroma shallow, thin, shell-like. South Africa and West Indies. 



Diplocystis 

 Family Geastraceae. 



Columella wanting. Hymenial chambers lacking (plectobasidial). Europe and 



North America. Astraeus 



Columella present. Mostly with typical hymenial chambers. 



A prominent sterile base in addition to the columella. Endoperidium with an 

 apical pore but soon the whole upper part more or less caducous. 

 America and Africa. Terrostella 



(Syn., Geasteropsis and Geasteroides) 



