64 THIRTY-SECOND REPORT ON THE STATE MUSEUM. 
Plants growing near Amherst College. It is the Bovista cyathiformis of 
the Twenty-second State Cabinet Report, and an immature condition of 
it was reported and figured in the Twenty-third State Cabinet Report under 
the name LL. gigantewm. 
As an edible species, it is not inferior to the giant puff-ball. It is equal 
to it in flavor and occurs more frequently and in greater numbers. The smaller 
plants are about the size of a man’s fist, the larger ones are as big as a man’s 
head. The short thick stem often penetrates the earth so that the plant 
appears to be truly sessile. The color is generally brown more or less tinged 
with pink or lilac, but sometimes it is nearly white. Usually the upper part 
cracks into rather large distinct areas. Just at maturity there is a thin 
membrane or epidermis which may be separated from the peridium, which is 
then seen to have a beautiful but minutely velvety surface. It is at this time 
quite thick but very fragile. The cup-like base, which remains after the dis- 
persion of the capillitium and spores, is suggestive of the specificname. It is 
more or less tinged with the purplish-brown hue of the capillitium and fre- 
quently persists till the following spring. Sometimes the persistent basal 
part of the peridium is expanded so that the cup is lost in a nearly plane sur- 
face. The color of the capillitium and spores readily separate it from the 
other species of this section. 
Lycoperdon saccatumM #7. LonG-STEMMED PuFr¥-BaLL. 
Medium size, 2/-4’ high, 1-2’ broad; peridium depressed-globose or 
somewhat lentiform, supported by a long stem-like base, furfuraceous with 
minute persistent mealy or granular warts or spinules, often plicate beneath, 
white or creamy white, at maturity becoming brown or oliye-brown, subshin- 
ing and very thin or membranous, breaking up into irregular fragments 
which sometimes adhere to the capillitium for a considerable time, the stem- 
like base cylindrical or narrowed downward, sometimes thick; capillitium rather 
dense, subpersistent, and with the spores dingy-olive or dingy-brown, some- 
times verging toward purplish-brown; spores rough, .00016’-0002’ in 
diameter. Edible. 
Low mossy grounds and bushy swamps, especially under alders. Sandlake, 
Center and Adirondack Mountains. August—October. 
The Long-stemmed puff-ball is one of our finest species. Its symmetrical 
shape, pure color, soft and delicate appearance, all conspire to render it 
attractive. The peridium is sometimes nearly globose, but usually it is more 
or less depressed and hemispherical or lens-shaped. It warts are soft and 
delicate, and so minute, that to the naked eye the plant appears to be mealy 
or almost pruinose. They are persistent, but in the mature plant they 
shrivel or dry up so that they are scarcely noticeable. In the mature ~plant 
the peridium shrinks to a thin delicate membrane, in which respect it differs 
from the peridium in the two preceding species. The under surface is some- 
times marked by radiating alternate elevations and depressions, and in some 
instances the stem is also rendered uneven by shallow, undulate depressions. 
The stem sometimes persists long after the disappearance of the peridium 
and its contents. 
Before maturity this species bears a strong resemblance to L. molle Pers., 
the Soft puff-ball, but when mature the two are easily separated by the differ- 
ent manner in which the peridium ruptures. 
