266 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PUFF BALLS 



The remaining orders of Basidiomycetes are characterized by 

 the concealment of the basidia in cavities and are for this reason 

 collectively known as the Gasteromycetes, meaning stomach 

 fungi. Among the more common orders may be mentioned: 



98. Order d. Lycoperdales or Puff Balls. These familiar 



FIG. 174. Cluster of common puff balls, Lycoperdon. At left three older 

 ones have opened, permitting discharge of basidiospores. 



fungi are developed, as in the Agaricales, on strands of the 

 mycelium, which often form extensive net-like threads in rot- 

 ten stumps, logs, sawdust and humus (Fig. 174). The puff balls 

 vary in size from a pea to over a foot in diameter. When young, 

 they consist of white cheesy masses of hyphae which form in 



FIG. 175. Diagram of a section of one of the puff balls, showing the thick 

 skin of periderm and the irregular cavities which are lined with basidia. At 

 the base the larger, sterile cavities of the stipe are shown. 



the interior of the puffball a series of irregular cavities lined with 

 basidia and on the exterior, a rather firm skin or periderm (Fig. 

 175). At maturity, the inner hyphae break up, leaving only a 



