The Sierran Piiifhall. 



39 



THE SIERRAN PUFFBALL. 



By William Albert Setchell. 



When the members of the Sierra Club scatter them- 

 selves among the high mountains for the purposes of 

 relaxation and promoting our knowledge of these snowy- 

 peaks and ranges, wiU some of them pause a moment 

 on their various and devious wa3-s to make a note on 

 meeting one of the humbler and less well-known abo- 

 rigines, yet one which is a noble of high rank in its own 

 class ? The aborigine I have in mind is the Sierran Puff - 

 ball, which, while not by any means the largest of all 

 known puffballs, yet is of fair size, and by its elaborate 

 markings one of the m.ost decorative. No other puffball 

 knovvn has so striking and so elaborate a set of sculp- 

 turings on its outer coat. 



The Sierran Puffball was first made known to the 

 botanical public in 1885 by Dr. H. W. Harkness, and 

 named by him Lycoperdon sculptum. Dr. Harkness told 

 me that the original specimen camie from the eastern slope 

 of the Sierra, but he seemed uncertain of the exact 

 locality. In all probability, it came from some locality 

 not far from the region of Lake Tahoe. It is quite 

 certain that it has never been seen except in fairly high 

 altitudes of the Sierra, and, consequently, it seems en- 

 titled to the English name which I have placed at the 

 head of these notes on it. 



The Sierran Puffball is an easily recognized species. 

 It is six to eight inches long, four to five inches high, and 

 four to six inches broad. Its general shape is that of a 

 broad, flattened pear, for below the swollen upper portion 

 above the ground it has a thick but short stalklike base 

 which is situated below the surface of the ground on 

 which it grows. When entire, the upper rounded portion 



