REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 



219 



Lycoperdon giganteum Batsch. 

 Giant Puff Ball. 



Plate 1 . 



Peridium very large, globose or depressed-globose, sessile or 

 nearly so, glabrous or slightly flocculose, white, whitish or 

 slightly yellowish, becoming dingy with age; capillitium and 

 spores greenish-yellow, then dingy-olivaceous ; spores globose, 

 about .00016 in. broad. 



The Giant puff ball is our largest species. Its diameter is 

 commonly eight to fifteen inches, but sometimes it attains even 

 larger dimensions. Its horizontal diameter is often greater than 

 its altitude. Its rind is smooth and white or whitish, but as it 

 grows old it becomes yellowish and dusky. The flesh is at first 

 white but with maturity it assumes greenish-yellow hues and 

 when it becomes dusty it is brownish or brownish-olivaceous. 



It grows in grassy places and appears in August and Septem- 

 ber. It is not common, but owing to its large size a single one is 

 sufficient for a meal for a large family. Indeed one writer 

 advises that, when one is found growing near the house, it should 

 not all be taken at once, but that a sufficient quantity of it 

 should be taken for a meal and another portion be cut from it 

 the next day for another meal, and so on until it is all utilized 

 or until it is too old for use. The largest specimens are apt to 

 be depressed so as to resemble in shape a round loaf of bread. 



Lycoperdon cyathiforme Bosc. 

 Cup-Shaped Puff Ball. 



Plate 2. 



Peridium three to six inches in diameter, globose or depressed- 

 globose, smooth or minutely floccose or scaly, whitish cinereous 

 brown or pinkish-brown, often cracking into areas in the upper 

 part, commonly with a short thick stem-like base ; capillitium and 

 spores purple-brown, these and the upper part of the peridium 

 falling away and disappearing when old, leaving a cup-shaped 

 base with a ragged margin ; spores globose, rough, purple-brown, 

 .0002 to .00025 in. broad. 



The Cup shaped puff ball is smaller than the Giant puff ball and 

 more common. Ordinarily it is from three to six inches in 

 diameter. It is at first white, whitish or brownish, but it is apt 



