THE BASIDIUM FUNGI (BASIDIOMYCETES) 253 



shown 1 that a smgle Agarious campestris may produce not less 

 than 2,000,000,000 spores ; that the " shaggy-mane " mush- 

 room (^Coprinus comatus) may produce 5,000,000,000 spores; 

 and that Polyporus squamomis may produce 11,000,000,000 

 spores. It is also inter- 

 esting to note that the 

 same authority estimates 

 that in Polyporus squa- 

 mosus one spore in about 

 1,000,000,000,000 has 

 a good chance to start a 

 new life cycle. 



238. The puffballs. 

 These are basidiomycetes 

 whose mycelium usually 

 grows m rich soil, and 

 which have a globular 

 reproductive body that 

 incloses the basidia and 

 spores. Puffballs may 

 range from the size of a 

 pinhead to those that are 

 a foot in diameter (Fig. 

 211). When ripe they 

 burst open, usually at 

 the top, and small clouds 

 of spores may be emitted 

 at intervals for months 

 and even years. The 

 largest known puffball 

 is Lycoperdon giganteum. One specimen of it which measured 

 sixteen by eleven inches was estimated ^ to contain 7,000,000,- 

 000,000 spores. It was also estimated that some of the puffballs 



■■ Buller, A. H. R., Researches on Fungi. Longmans, Green, and Com- 

 pany, 1909. 



2 Buller, A. H. R., loc. cit. 



Fig. 211. Two species of puffballs of the 

 genus Lycoperdon 



Those above are one half natural size, and that 

 below is two ninths natural size 



