52 BULLETIN 1*75, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



SCLERODERMACEJE. 



Fungi belonging to the family Sclerodermacese are developed at the 

 surface of the ground. The peridium is generally thick, rough, warty, 

 or scaly, but not composed of distinct layers. The representative 

 genus of the family and the one most commonly observed by the 

 amateur collector is Scleroderma. 



SCLERODERMA. 



In the genus Scleroderma the plants are sessile or nearly so. The 

 peri dial wall is generally thick, hard, and leathery, but it may be 

 scaly or warty, indehiscent, or it may burst at the apex into stellate 

 lobes. None of the species here described are highly recommended 

 for edibility. 



Scleroderma geaster. 



Peridium mostly sessile, subglobose, coarse in texture, finally scaly, at length de- 

 hiscing in an irregularly stellate manner. These plants are at first dingy ocher in 

 color, later becoming brown, the spore mass finally purplish brown. Specimens may 

 be found from 2 to 3 inches in diameter. After dehiscence they often measure 4 to 5 

 inches across. 



They are ordinarily found in sandy woods, banks, or bordering roadsides. 



Scleroderma vulgare. 



Peridium subsessile, subglobose, yellowish or pale brown, scaly or warty, plicate 

 toward the base; spore mass purplish black. 



Peridium 1 to 3 inches in diameter. 



This species is very common and plentiful and is found in dry situations, on hard 

 ground, along cinder paths and gravel walks. 



A fungus nearly related to Scleroderma vulgare, considered by some authorities 

 merely a variety, by others as a distinct species, is known as Scleroderma verrucosum. 

 It differs from S. vulgare in possessing a thinner and more or less minutely warted 

 peridium, in the umber color of the spore mass, and in the more pronounced stemlike 

 development of the base. 



NIDULARIACEJE (bird's-nest fungi). 



Members of the family Nidulariacese are represented by small, 

 leathery, cup-shaped plants growing on old sacking, manure, earth, 

 and decaying or dried wood. The common name is suggested by 

 the form of the peridium, which is cup shaped and contains many 

 small, lenticular bodies (peridiola) resembling eggs. The mouth of 

 the peridium is at first covered by a membrane, which later becomes 

 ruptured and exposes the sporangioles. The spore-bearing tissue 

 and spores are never resolved into a dusty mass, as in many Gastero- 

 mycetes, but persist in the form of peridiola which contain the spores. 



Key to Nidulariacese. 



Peridium with several to many sporangioles: 

 Peridium torn at the apex in opening — 



Sporangioles not attached to the inner wall of the peridium Nidulakia. 



