702 



ON THE AUSTRALIAN FAIRY-RING PUFF-BALL. 



( Lycoperdon furfuraceum, SchaeffJ 



By D. McAlpine. 



(Communicated by J. H. Maiden, F.L.S., <kc.) 



(Plate xlvii.) 



In February, 1898, it was officially brought under my notice 

 that several bowling-greens in the neighbourhood of Melbourne 

 were being much injured by having bare patches in the form of rings. 

 The caretakers of the greens at first considered these to be due 

 to grubs in the soil, but when the various remedies they tried 

 failed (such as a dressing of soot, which really aggravated the 

 mischief), then my services were called into requisition. On 

 visiting the bowling-greens, the otherwise bare patches were 

 found to be studded with knobby or flattened puff-balls, the 

 rolling and working of the green preventing their further develop- 

 ment above ground, and the numerous distinct and fairly large 

 circles showed at a glance that here we had to do with the well 

 known " Fairy-rings," although not hitherto observed or at least 

 recorded in Australia. Since the minute puff-balls did not come 

 to maturity and shed their spores, from the roller being constantly 

 at work, I had a small circle partitioned off, and soon plenty of 

 the puff-balls grew to their full size and shed their spores freely. 

 It was then possible to determine the species, and as it formed 

 such decided rings and caused considerable damage, I have fully 

 described and illustrated it in the present paper. My attention 

 having been called to the subject, it was soon discovered that 

 these rings were by no means rare. In the well-kept lawn at the 

 Flemington Racecourse, I found the same puff-ball producing 

 segments of circles, and at the Caulfield Racecourse they were 

 very plentiful. In these localities bare patches were not formed, 

 but within the ring of puff-balls the grass was greener and of a 



