United States Species of Lycoperdon. 287 



The exterior coat or rind of the plant consists of two 

 parts. The outer part is sometimes called the hark, some- 

 times the exterior peridium. In some species it takes the 

 form of minute flocculent or pulverulent masses or scurf- 

 like scales, in others it consists of weak spines or spine- 

 like bristles, while in others still, the spines are much 

 larger and stouter and are thickened at the base. Such 

 spines are generally more or less angulated and curved. 

 Plants with these coarse long spines are said to be echmate 

 because of their stiff bristly aspect. Sometimes several 

 contiguous spines have their tips curved towards each 

 other and united together, thus forming little stellate or 

 star-like clusters. These external processes or adorn- 

 ments are often called warts though they may resemble 

 spines rather than warts. In some species they are de- 

 ciduous at maturity, in others theyform a permanent adorn- 

 ment of the inner rind or true peridium, but in such cases 

 they usually shrivel with age and become less conspicu- 

 ous. In a few species the exterior peridium at maturity 

 is separable from the inner and may be peeled off like a 

 thin membrane. The inner or true peridium is at first 

 rather thick and firm, but when fully mature it is gene- 

 rally thin, membranaceous and flaccid. In one section or 

 series of species the upper part when mature breaks up 

 into irregular fragments and soon falls away ; in another 

 series it opens by a small apical aperture and then re- 

 mains in this condition a long time This difference in 

 the mode of rupture in the various species affords a cha- 

 racter by which the genus is divided into two sections. 

 The first section answers nearly to the section Bovis- 

 toides of Fries ; the other nearly to his Proteoides. The 

 former was raised by Rostkovius to the rank of a genus 

 with the name Langermannia, but modern mycologists 

 have generally followed Fries in regarding these species 

 as constituting the single genus Lycoperdon. 



