376 TEXT-BOOK OF FUNGI 



KE Y TO THE FAMILIES 

 A. Subterranean 



Sporophore fleshy, indehiscent, subglobose, or irregularly 

 nodulose ; gleba cavernose, not breaking up and becoming 

 pulverulent. Capillitium absent. Hymenogastereae. 



B. Sporophore above ground from the first, or at maturity 



Peridium thick, not differentiated into layers, rupturing 



irregularly; gleba cavernose. Spores not forming a 



powdery mass ; capillitium absent. Sclerodermeae. 



Peridium of one or two layers, containing several (rarely 

 one) lenticular or subglobose sporangiola; spores not 

 forming a pulverulent mass ; capillitium absent. 



Nidularieae. 







Peridium thin, consisting usually of two layers, dehiscent 

 as a rule; gleba at first cavernous, breaking up into a 

 powdery mass of spores mixed with hyphae forming a 

 capillitium. Lycoperdeae. 



Volva with a middle gelatinous stratum ; spores em- 

 bedded in mucilage at maturity. Capillitium absent. 



Phalloideae. 



Hymenogastereae 



This family agrees with Tuberaceae in its subterranean 

 habit, also the superficial appearance, but differs in pro- 

 ducing its spores on basidia. Most of the species are 

 irregularly globose, and in many cases originate from a 

 dense weft of mycelium. A further coincidence is the 

 strong smell emanating from some species in both families. 

 The basidia are very variable in form, and in the number 



