448 



NATURE STUDY AND LIFE 



Puffballs, LycoperdacecB. — Puff balls have a rind or wall 

 and produce their spores within a closed cavity. When the 

 spores are ripe the wall ruptures, and off they go with every 

 puff of wind in the well-known clouds of dust. No puff- 

 ball, so far as known, is poisonous if taken while the flesh 

 is perfectly white, but some caution must be observed not 



Fig. i8i. Puffballs 



to mistake for a puffball 



a "button" or " &gg" 



of some other kind of 



f n « ■^"^' '^^' 



° ■ A Coral Mushroom 



Coral Mushrooms, or Cla- 

 varias, CLavariacea. — These grow either 

 in the form of single clubs or many- 

 branched masses. The spores are shed 

 from the entire surface of the branches. 

 So far as is known, all the clavarias that j.^^ ^g ^ morel 

 are of any size are edible. 



Morels, Cup Fungi, Discomycetes. — These have a stem 

 and cap, but unlike most mushrooms the spores are borne 

 in pits distributed over the convex surface. They appear 

 early in the season, May and June, are generally free from 

 insects, and may be dried for future use ; all the common 

 species are edible. A morel may be recognized by its resem- 

 blance to Fig. 183, which is Morchella conica. Morchella 



