228 PHYLUM VII. CARPOMYCETEAE 
(peridium). The basidia develop in a portion of the in- 
terior (the gleba), the remainder being sterile. 
381. Many common puff-balls belong to the genus 
Lycoperdon, the type of the family Lycoperdaceae, of 
which there are a good many species. The genus Cal- 
vatia contains the Giant Puff-ball (C. maxima), whose 
spore fruit is sometimes 30 centimeters or more in diam- 
eter. Here it must be remembered that the proper plant 
lives underground, obtaining its food from decaying vege- 
table matter, while the great ball is a fruit containing 
basidia and basidiospores. 
382. The Bird-nest fungi (Order NIpULARIALES) are 
so noticeable that they should be examined here. These 
little fruits usually grow on twigs and sticks, and are 
closed at first, and then open and cup shaped. ‘They are 
a centimeter or less in height and width, and when mature 
contain several small brownish spore packets (the “eggs” 
of the little ‘“‘nests’’). When young these “eggs” are 
small cavities lined with basidia and surrounded by a 
dense layer of hyphae. When the tissues about them 
deliquesce these spore-bearing cavities persist as hard 
walled bodies. 
Fia. 109.—Development Fie. 110.—Development 
of bird-nest fungi. of stinkhorn. 
383. The Stink-horns (Order PHALLALEs) live as sap- 
rophytes, feeding upon decaying organic matter in the 
ground, or less frequently as parasites in the roots of 
various plants, eventually developing globose subterra- 
nean fruits. These fruits produce their spores in a circu- 
