68 
GASTEROMYCETES 
umber, with a decided purple tinge. Frequent in dry 
pastures and heathy places. 
B. pusilla = Lycoperdon pusillum (pusillus , small—from its 
small size). 
Per. less than i in. high and broad, subglobose, pale 
yellowish-brown, breaking up into minute scurfy squamules 
and becoming smooth. Spore mass olivaceous ochre. In 
pastures and hedge-banks. Our smallest puff-ball. 
GEASTER 
(Gr. ge, the earth ; aster , a star—from the star-like appear¬ 
ance of the mature plant) 
G. coliformis = Myriostoma coliformis (colum , a colander— 
from the appearance of the endoperidium), “ Colander 
Earth-star.” Plate XXII. i. 
Outer per. 7-10 segmented, 3-5 in. diam. when expanded. 
Inner per. subglobose, supported on several more or less 
confluent short stalks, which sometimes extend upwards to 
form columellse. Orifices many. Spore mass umber. In 
aut. in sandy places ; rare in Britain ; said to be abundant on 
the plains of Hungary. Lloyd remarks that the inner 
peridium, with its several mouths, can be, not inaptly, com¬ 
pared to a “ pepper-box.” He is wrong in supposing that 
the word “ colander ” is “ almost obsolete ” in* this country ; 
a colander finds a place in every kitchen ! 
G. Bryantii (after Charles Bryant), “ Bryant’s Earth- 
star.” Plate XXII. 2 and 3. 
Outer per. 8-12 segmented, becoming recurved; pale 
umber or brownish; 1-3^ in. diam. when expanded. 
Inner per. subglobose, with a distinct groove around it at 
the base, where it joins the slender pedicel; dark purplish- 
slate colour. Orifice long and conical. Spore mass dark 
brown. Amongst leaves and in sandy hedge-banks, appear¬ 
ing in sum. and lasting till spr. Rare. 
