GYROPHRAGMIUM. 
There is little description needed for this plant other than the 
photographs on our plates. The gleba is described above. 
The plant usually grows in sandy places. Its true home is the 
‘‘sand-dunes” on the Mediterranean coasts. The young plants are en¬ 
closed in a volva (or peridium, if we call the plant a gastromyces). 
This breaks irregularly as the plant grows. In the European form it 
usually remains as kind of volva cup (see plate 24 fig. 3) at the base 
of the plant In the American plant it generally breaks loose from the 
base of the plant, though fragments are sometimes attached to the 
stem as shown in our figure. The tramal plates and spores (gleba) are 
black. The flesh of the stem in dried specimens is yellow. We do 
not know the color when fresh but Mr. Greata writes me, “ upon cut¬ 
ting, the flesh of the stalk rapidly turns a bright lemon yellow.” The 
European plant is decidedly more yellow than the American plant. 
All Gyrophragmiums that I have seen impress me as being 
forms of the same species, having practically the same gleba and spores 
and would probably all be better called Gyrophragmium Delilei. The 
European, American and South African plants present minor differ¬ 
ences, chiefly stature, and it is perhaps well for the present at least to 
designate them by separate names which have principally a geographi¬ 
cal significance. 
292—GYROPHRAGMIUM DELILEI. 
(Plate 24. Figs. 3 and 4.) 
The original form from Montpelier France, has been found in 
Algiers, Sardinia and no doubt occurs in other Mediterranean countries. 
It is a brighter yellow than other forms and the volva usually (not al¬ 
ways) persists as a cup at the base of the plant. Spores subglobose, 
6-7 mic. 
Specimens in our Collection. 
Sardinia, F. Cavara, France . N. Patouillard. 
293—GYROPHRAGMIUM DECIPIENS. 
(Plate 23.) 
The West American form, varies much in general stature, and 
we have seen specimens as slender as the European form. As it grows 
in the sand-dunes of the Pacific Coast it is a much more obese plant, 
with a thick stem. The volva does not usually form a cup but breaks 
away from the base of the plant. The spores 6-8 mic. are slightly 
larger than the European species. 
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