THE SPHAEROBOLUS GUN 



3ii 



cup (Fig. 160, d, e, p. 315). The rim of the cup is orange-yellow 

 in colour and is produced outwards into from six to nine delicate 

 teeth. The cup constitutes the Sphaerobolus gun and has a diameter 

 of only about 2 mm. 



Fig. 156. — Sphaerobolus stellatus. Gemmae, peculiar oval or oval- 

 elongated cells, which are present in the gleba scattered among the 

 spores before and after the global mass has been discharged : A, 

 gemmae from the gleba of an unopened fruit-body, 24 hours before the 

 glebal mass would have been discharged. The gemmae have not yet 

 germinated. B, gemmae of a glebal mass dissected 1-2 hours before 

 the glebal mass would have been discharged, left in water for 2-3 

 hours. The gemmae have begun to germinate and one shows a clamp - 

 connexion. C, gemmae of a glebal mass which had been discharged 

 about 3 hours and then had been kept moist. The gemmae have 

 germinated : three of them are two-celled and one three-celled ; and 

 every septum is provided with a clamp-connexion. Drawn by 

 A. H. R. Buller and Ruth Macrae. Magnification, 1060. 



After the fruit-body has opened stellately, the rim of the cup, 

 owing to continual expansion of the highly turgid palisade layer, 

 gradually increases in diameter and bends outwards (Figs. 147, B, 

 p. 298, and 161, A and B). When a certain stage in this process has 

 been reached, the two inner membranes of the cup, i.e. the palisade 



