38 BOVISTELLA. BOVISTA 



49. B. ammophila (Lev.) Lloyd. (= Bovista ammophila Lev.) Lloyd, 



Myc. Writings, n, t. 87, figs. 5-6 1 . a/i/i09, sand; (1X09, loving. 



Pe. 3 cm., whitish, then pallid, broadly obovate, plicate below and 

 attenuated into a long, slender, taproot-like base, thin, brittle, rigid, 

 hard; exoperidium whitish broken up into tomentose warts; endo- 

 peridium pallid, thin. Mouth small, apical, irregularly torn. Gleba 

 dark brown. Sterile base of large cells, very firm, rigid, about one- 

 third of the peridium. Spores olive in the mass, pale under the micro- 

 scope, oval, 4-5/Lt with slender, tapering pedicels. Capillitium olive, 

 thick walled, consisting of separate, short, branched threads. Sandy 

 places. Sept. Rare. 



Bovista (Dill.) Morgan. 

 (Bofist, a puff-ball.) 



Peridium subglobose; exoperidium fleshy, smooth, fugacious, 

 sometimes persistent at the base; endoperidium membranaceous, 

 becoming papyraceous, thin, soft, dehiscing by an apical aperture, 

 or opening irregularly. Gleba without a sterile base. Capillitium 

 threads free, consisting of a thick stem, and dichotomous, long pointed 

 branches. Spores coloured, globose, oval, or elliptical, smooth, pedi- 

 cellate. Superficial. 



50. B. nigrescens Pers. Berk. Outl. Brit. Fung. t. 20, fig. 5. 



Nigrescens, becoming black. 



Pe. 2-5-6 cm., whitish, then pale dark brown, or umber brown, and 

 finally blackish umber, globose; exoperidium whitish, papyraceous, 

 soon breaking away; endoperidium concolorous, thin, tough, shining, 

 smooth. Mouth apical, irregular, torn. Gleba white, then ochraceous, 

 or olivaceous, and finally purple, soft, loose. Spores umber purple, 

 globose, or slightly oval, 5-6/z, with long, hyaline pedicels. Capil- 

 litium dark brown, thick walled, bent, branched, branches pointed 

 at the ends, 12-18/x in diam. Pastures and heaths. Jan. Dec. 

 Common, (v.v.) 



51. B. plombea Fr. (= Bovista ammophila Lev. ex Massee in Journ. 



of Bot. (1883), 133.) Berk. Outl. Brit. Fung. t. 20, fig. 6. 



Plumbea, lead colour. 



Pe. 1-3 cm., whitish, then lead colour, globose, or depressed ; exo- 

 peridium white, thin, smooth, soon peeling off, sometimes leaving a 

 persistent portion near the base; endoperidium lead colour, thin, 

 tough, opaque. Mouth apical, round, oval, or irregular. Gleba white, 

 then ochraceous, or olive, and finally purplish brown, soft, loose. 



1 Lloyd states, l.c. n, 262, that the British record rests on an erroneous 

 determination. 



