6o 
GASTEROMYCETES 
HYMENOGASTER 
(Gr. htrnen , a membrane; gaster, the stomach—from the 
usually thin peridium) 
H. citrinus (citreus, lemon-yellow—from the colour). 
Plate XVII. 12. 
Per. ij in., irregularly globose, lobed or deformed, shining 
like silk, yellowish at first, reddish-black at maturity. 
Easily recognised by the yellow tramal walls and the very 
pronounced smell of cheese. May to Dec. in woods. 
Formerly eaten in the West of England. 
Family SCLERODERMACEjE 
(The Earth-balls) 
KEY TO THE GENERA 
Scleroderma. Peridium with warted or granular surface. Gleba 
cellular. Cells without peridiola. 
Polysaccum. Peridium with a smooth surface. Gleba composed of 
distinct cells containing peridiola. 
SCLERODERMA 
(Gr. skelros, hard ; derma, skin—from the hard peridium) 
S. aurantium ( aurantiacum , orange-yellow-—from its colour). 
“Common Earth-ball.” Plate XVIII. i. 
This is the common form of Scleroderma vulgare of our text¬ 
books, which some authorities split up into two forms— 
aurantium, with large, rough, scaly warts; cep a, relatively 
smoother and paler. 
Per. 1-3 in., white or yellowish-brown, often pinkish when 
cut; subsessile. Spore mass blackish, with an olive tinge. 
Gregarious or caespitose; very common on light sandy soils 
in hedges and under trees. An atrophied form (S. cervinum), 
found occasionally in dry fir woods, is less than 1 in. across 
and densely granular, superficially resembling Elaphomyces 
