OF EARTH-STARS 
ii 
strated by holding a dry plant for a few minutes over steam. 
It quickly swells out; the segments uncurl and assume a 
plump, natural appearance, again regaining their former 
size and position when dry (see Plate XXII.). The inner 
or fleshy layer is white or pinkish and soft and fleshy at 
first, but it quickly dries down to a thin, adnate, reddish- 
brown skin, which often splits up and disappears altogether. 
In specimens collected early and carefully dried at once it 
sometimes keeps its colour. 
The inner peridium or “ball” of an earth-star is usually 
of a dull colour, soft and yielding, either stalked or sessile, 
opening at maturity in various ways to liberate the spores. 
In the Stinkhorn fungi (Phalloidaceae) the spores, en¬ 
veloped in a fetid gluten, are elevated into the air on a 
stem-like body, the receptacle. The members of this family 
are remarkable for their rapidity of growth after emergence 
from the volvate or “egg” state. This is very graphically 
shown in Plate III., which originally appeared in a paper 
by Mr. N. A. Cobb, of Hawaii. Ward observed Phallus 
impudicus to grow 3 inches in twenty-five minutes, and attain 
full size (height, 4 inches) in an hour and a half. The 
remarkable elongation results from the release of the com¬ 
pressed cells of the receptacle (see Plate XXIV., 1). 
HYMENOMYCETES 
Though the representatives of this order lack the protec¬ 
tive peridium of the Gasteromycetes, yet it is evident that 
the necessity for some kind of protection for the spores 
whilst maturing is very great, and has brought about the 
development of a protective cap, or pileus. The ultimate 
objective in each of the families comprising the order has 
been the production of such a cap with a minimum ex¬ 
penditure of material in providing a maximum hymenial 
