Pezizee 



FAMILY. PEZIZ-ffi. 



PEZI'ZA Linn. 

 Pezizce, a sort of mushroom without root or stalk, mentioned by Pliny. 



Peziza. Ascophore sessile, but sometimes narrowed to a short, stem-like base, 

 fleshy and brittle, closed at first, then expanding until cup-shaped, 

 saucer-shaped, or in some species quite plane or even convex ; disk even, 

 nodulose or veined; externally warted, scurfy, or rarely almost glabrous ; 

 cortical cells irregularly polygonal; asci cylindrical, 8-spored. Spores 

 obliquely i-seriate, continuous, hyaline (rarely tinged brown), elliptical, 

 epispore smooth or rough; paraphyses present. Dill. Emended. 

 Mas see. 



The genus is large. Professor Peck reports 150 American species. 

 Some are large, others require the microscope to find them. 



They are rather indiscriminate in their habitats; some are eccentric; 

 these grow on damp walls, on dung, in cellars and cisterns, on spent 

 hops and on old fungi. One or two species grow on sticks under water, 

 an unusual place for fungi of any kind. Minute species grow upon 

 stems of herbaceous plants; nine or ten upon the nettle. Two species 

 contain a milky fluid, P. succosa and P. saniosa. Many are known in 

 Europe which have not been found in America. European authors 

 differ as to their qualities; some call them insipid, some speak of them 

 with kindly respect. Much depends upon their cooking. They are, 

 as a rule, tenacious in texture. To cook them properly requires time 

 and slow stewing. They then become soft and rather glutinous. Their 

 flavor is slight but pleasant, and their consistency agreeable. 



ANALYSIS OF TRIBES. 



I. ALEURIA. Page 553. 

 Externally powdered or with a woolly scurf. 



II. LACHNEA. Page 558. 

 Externally hairy or downy. 



III. PMIALEA. 

 Externally almost naked, smooth. No edible species reported. 



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