North American Fungi. 167 



away. Subgleba very shallow or quite obsolete ; mass of spores 

 and capillitium greenish-yellow, then brownish olivaceous; the 

 threads very long, frequently septate, branched, the primary 

 branches much thicker than the spores, the ultimate ones more 

 slender; spores globose, even or sometimes very minutely warted, 

 3.5-4.5 mic. in diameter, often with a minute pedicel. 



Growing on the ground in grassy places in fields and woods. 

 New England, Sprague ; New York, Peck ; Pennsylvania, Schwein- 

 itz ; N. Carolina, Curtis; Ohio, Davis L. James; Wisconsin, 

 Trelease ; Kansas, Cragin ; California, Harkness. Peridium com- 

 monly 6-12 inches in diameter, but much larger specimens are 

 sometimes met with. August Foerste records one that a farmer near 

 Centreville, O., brought him, which measured 20 inches in diame- 

 ter with a height of 15 inches and weighed 17^ lbs. Schweinitz 

 affirms that he found specimens of this puffball 3 feet in diameter. 

 This species is said to be the Lycoperdon bovista, Linn. It is L. 

 maximum, Schaeff. , and L. giganteum, Batsch. Mycophagists pro- 

 nounce this puffball excellent eating. Badham says the best 

 method by which to cook it is to cut it into slices and to fry these 

 in egg and bread crumbs; so prepared, it has the flavor of a rich 

 light omelette. The specimens selected for eating must be white 

 inside and perfectly fresh. 



2. C. pachyderma, Peck. Peridium very large, globose or 

 obovoid, often irregular, with a thick cord-like root. Cortex thin, 

 smooth, whitish, persistent, drying up into polygonal areolae which 

 are white in the center with a brown border; inner peridium very 

 thick but fragile, with a separable membranaceous lining, after 

 maturity gradually breaking up into fragments and falling away. 

 Subgleba obsolete ; mass of spores and capillitium greenish- 

 yellow then olive-brown; the threads very long, occasionally sep- 

 tate, branched, mostly thinner than the spores ; spores globose, 

 distinctly warted, 5-6 mic. in diameter, sometimes with a minute 

 pedicel. 



Growing on the ground. Arizona, Pringle ; Dakota, Miss Nellie 

 Crouch. Peridium 4-8 inches in diameter. Remarkable for its 

 thick peridium, which becomes white spotted and areolate. This 

 species is Lycoperdon pachydermum, Peck, " Bot. Gazette," Vol. 

 VII., p. 54. L. lepidophorum, E. & E., " Journal of Mycology," 

 Vol. I., p. 88, seems to me to be only the younger state of this 

 species. Mr. Ellis, however, considers the inner membranaceous 



