, a small cup or vinegar cup. The spore-bearing body
stipitate, cup-shaped, dingy, ribbed externally with branching veins,
which run up from the short, pitted and hollow stem; mouth somewhat
contracted; light umber without and darker within. Found on the ground
in the spring.

_Peziza badia. Pers._

LARGE BROWN PEZIZA. EDIBLE.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. G. Lloyd._

Figure 427.--Peziza badia.]

Gregarious in its habits; sessile, or narrowed into a very short stout
stem, more or less pitted; nearly round and closed at first, then
expanded until cup-shaped; margin at first involute; externally covered
with a frost-like bloom; disk darker than the external surface, very
changeable in color; lobes more or less split and wavy, somewhat thick;
spore-sacs cylindrical, apex truncante, sporidia oblong-ovate, epispore
rough, 8-spored. Found on the ground in the grass or by the roadside in
open woods. I found my first specimens in a clearing at Salem, but I
have since found it at several points in the state. It should be fresh
when eaten.

_Peziza coccinea. Jacq._

THE CARMINE PEZIZA.

[Illustration: Figure 428.--Peziza coccinea. One-third natural size.]

Coccinea means scarlet or crimson. Usually growing two or three on the
same stick, the color is a very pure and beautiful scarlet, attractive
to children; school children frequently bring me specimens, curious to
know what they are. Specimens not large, disk clear and pure carmine
within, externally white, as is the stem; tomentose, with short,
adpressed down; sporidia oblong, 8-spored. It is readily recognized by
the pure carmine disk and whitish tomentose exterior. It is found in
damp woods on decayed sticks, being very common all over the state.

_Peziza odorata. Pk._

THE ODOROUS PEZIZA. EDIBLE.

Gregarious in its habits. Cup yellowish, sessile, translucent, becoming
dull brown when old, brittle when fresh, flesh moist and watery; the
frame of the cup is separable into two layers; the outer one is rough,
while the inner one is smooth. The disk is yellowish-brown. The asci are
cylindrical, opening by a lid. On ground in cellars, about barns and
outbuildings. A very beautiful cluster grew upon a water-bucket in my
stable. The cups were quite large, two and a half to three inches
across. Its odor is distinctive. It is very similar to Peziza Petersii
from which it is distinguished by its larger spores and peculiar odor.
Found in May and June.

_Peziza S