THE PUFFBALLS 



547 



Lycoperdon pyriforme. Schaeff. 



The Pear-Shaped Puffball. Edible. 



Pyriforme means pear-shaped. The peridium is ovate or pear-shaped, with a 

 profusion of mycelial threads, as will be seen in Figure 470. 



The cortex is 

 covered with a thin 

 coat of minute 

 brownish scales or 

 granules, which are 

 quite persistent. 

 These can be seen 

 in the photograph 

 by the aid of a 

 glass. They are 

 sessile or have a 

 short stem-like 

 base ; the subgleba 

 is small and com- 

 pact. ; the capil- 

 litium and spores 

 are first white, then 

 greenish - yellow, 

 then dingy olivace- 

 ous ; the inner coat 

 is smooth, papery, 

 whitish - gray or 

 brownish, opening 

 by an apical 

 mouth ; the spores 

 are round, even, 

 greenish-yellow to 

 brownish-olive. 



They grow in 

 dense clusters, as 

 will be seen in Fig- 

 ure 470. An entire log and stump, about four feet high, and the roots around it, 

 were covered, as shown in Plate LXII. I gathered about three pecks, at this one 

 place, to divide with my friends. It is one of the most common puffballs, and you 

 may usually be sure of getting some, if you go into the woods where there are 

 decayed logs and stumps. A friend of mine, who goes hunting with me occa- 

 sionally, eats them as one would eat cherries. 

 Found from July to November. 



Figure 468. Lycoperdon Wrightii. Natural size. 



