330 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF FUNGI 



climates. The Thclcphorci have a very wide range, and some 

 species of Stercum are almost cosmopolitan, or are represented 

 by very close allies, whilst Corticium affects generally a more 

 temperate region. Allied genera are distributed in con- 

 formity with their texture. The Clavariei are all more or 

 less fleshy, and have their home in temperate regions, being 

 represented in the tropics by Lachnocladiiim, which is of a 

 dry and leathery texture. Of the total of 240 species of 

 Clavaria there are 146 indigenous to Europe and the United 

 States, and 20 others to a temperate climate, whilst probably 

 10 of the original number of species belong to Lachnodadinm 

 or Caloccra, which would account for three-fourths as inhabit- 

 ants of the temperate zone, and only one -fourth to be 

 accounted for in warmer countries. Of the Tremcllini only 

 some of the Hirneolae belong to a subtropical climate. 



The Gastromycetes, or puff-ball family, is a comparatively 

 small one, with about 720 species, and these are subdivided 

 into four distinct sections. The Fhalloideae are fleshly fetid 

 Fungi, which prefer a warm climate, although a few species 

 reach the south temperate zone. There are only about 93 

 species, of which 50 at least are tropical. The Nididariaccae 

 are small, tough species, widely distributed, and of the 65 

 species about one-third of them are subtropical. The chief 

 section, the Lycoperdaccae, contains about 480 species, of 

 which rather more than one-third belong to Europe and North 

 America. Australia is the richest country in the world for 

 these Fungi, possessing not less than one-fourth of the total 

 number of described species, whilst Great Britain has only 

 about one-sixth. About one-fourth of the whole are tropical 

 or subtropical. The subterranean family, the Hyporjad, is 

 only a small one, containing about 85 species, but there is 

 hardly a record of a subtropical species, and 68 are recorded 

 for Europe, so that it is almost a European family, for hitherto 

 it is not well represented in the United States. From the 

 above we may conclude, in general terms, that the Phcdloidci 

 are subtropical ; that the Nidulariaceae are generally dis- 

 tributed ; that the Lycoiperdacme prefer a warm temperate 

 climate, especially when dry and sandy; and that the Hyiwgaci 

 are absolutely of a temperate zone, and chiefly European, 



