Puff balls 
like coat. The coat of this ball is thin and papery, and opens by 
one apical mouth. The threads or capillitium, which bear the 
spores, project from the tissue of the inner wall and also from a 
central columella. 
The Geasters have no economic value, but are rather inter- 
esting to the nature student on account of their beauty and their 
curious methods of discharging their spores. 
The Smallest Earth-star 
Geaster minimus 
Peridium or Pouch—Globose, depressed, not pointed; vaulted 
underneath. 
Bark or Outer Coat—Segments acute at the apex, many lobed; 
the lobes, seven to nine, expanding 34-1 inch. 
Inner Coat—Ovoid, 4-1 inch in diameter, white to pale brown, 
with a distinct pedicel, seated in a plain circular disk. 
Mouth—Lifted on a cone, lip bordered with hair-like fringe. 
Spores—Brown, globe-shaped, minutely warted. 
Threads—Transparent. 
Habitat—Grassy grounds. 
Water-measuring Earth-star 
Geaster hygrometricus 
Peridium or Pouch—Sub-globose, depressed, the bark or skin fall- 
ing with the mycelium. 
Bark or Outer Coat—Deeply parted; the segments, acute at the 
apex, seven totwenty. Strongly hygrometric, expanding to 
a breadth of 2-3 inches. 
Inner Coat—Globose, depressed, sessile, covered with a network. 
Whitish or greyish. 
Mouth—Rim irregular. 
Spores—Brown, globe-shaped, minutely warted. 
Threads—Transparent, much branched and interwoven 5 continu- 
ous with the hyphe or threads of the inner coat. 
Habitat—Fields and woods, in sandy soil. 
The Geaster hygrometricus, or Astraeus hygrometricus as it 
is called by some, is found all over the world. When the 
Min’-1-mitis Hy’ -gré-mét' -r1-clis 
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