348 CRYPTOGAMIA. FUNGI. Lycoperbon. 
Lyc. verruco'sum. Stem very short: root large: head globular, hut 
compressed; olive brown, pitted. 
( Grev . Scot. Crypt. 48. E.)— Bull. 24. 
Head yellow, pitted, like the remains of the small pox, the cavities very 
minute and varying in depth; diameter one to one inch and a half, (some¬ 
times considerably larger. E.) Flesh white, changing to pinky when 
exposed to the air, woolly. Seeds pinky grey. Stem solid, very short, 
white, thickening into a large woody root. 
(The length of the stem, and the superficial verrucosity of different speci¬ 
mens are so uncertain both in L. verrucosum and L. defossum , that it 
would be difficult to frame an unexceptionable specific distinction: we, 
therefore, incline to Dr. Greville’s opinion that the latter ought to be con¬ 
sidered a variety of the former. E.) 
(Pitted Puff-ball. Scleroderma verrucosum. Grev. E.) Edgbaston, by 
the little pool dam. 24th Aug. 1792. 
Lyc. auranti'acum. Sphaeroidal: wrinkled at the base, furnished with 
a short stem; segments at the orifice, bluntly notched. 
Bolt. 270— (Sowerby 268. E.)— Vaill. 16. 9. 10— Mich. 99. 2. 
The stem or neck much plaited where it joins the root. The substance 
bluish purple, changing to tawny when the seeds are ripe. Its shape 
resembles that of a turnip, its colour varies from pale greenish yellow, 
to orange or dull dirty yellow; its diameter from two to five 
inches. Bulliard. Outer coat cracking, darker coloured than the inner 
coat. It is harder than any other species, and opens at the side. Mr. 
Stackhouse. 
(Orange Puff-ball. L. cervinum. Bolt. In a young state. Sowerby. 
E.) I am obliged to Mr. Relhan for the knowledge of this being an 
English species. He discovered it on a common near Derby. Mr. Stack- 
house has since found it under trees, at Pendarvis, Cornwall. Jan. 
(3) Nearly stemless ; large. 
Lyc. pro'teus. (Bull.) Roundish, turban-shaped, or thinner down¬ 
wards: flesh white: seeds dark-coloured; skin thin, flaccid. 
Growing on the ground; when young white, or pinky grey; tawny grey 
when full grown, and brown when old. Bull. Surrounded with three 
coats; the outer coat tender, easily abraded, the middle coat tough, lea¬ 
thery, smooth; the inner coat connected with the substance. Bolt. 
(Common Variable Puff-ball. E.) Lycoperdon ( Booista ) subrotundum: 
lacerato-dehiscens. Linn, and its varieties. 
The arrangement of this species and its numerous varieties is taken from 
Bulliard, whose figures and descriptions are far superior to those of any 
of his predecessors. 
Var. 1. Great. Globular, sessile, very large.* 
* The fumes of this fungus when burnt have a narcotic quality, on which account it 
is sometimes used to take a hive without destroying the bees. This, as well as the 
former, may be applied as a styptic. It serves to carry fuel in from a distance. (The 
different varieties, according to Marsigli, are fried with salt and oil and eaten by the 
Italians. The coat of the larger kinds properly prepared might prove an excellent sub¬ 
stitute for the Tinder Boletus, Amadou ; an article of, frequently expensive, importatioh 
from Germany. E.) 
