Surface minutely roughened;
mouths several, appressed fibrillose, round, plain or slightly elevated;
columellae several, filiform, probably the same in number as the
pedicels; spores globose, roughened, 3-6 mc.; capillitium simple,
unbranched, long, tapering, about half diameter of spores.

The inner peridium with its several mouths can be, not inaptly, compared
to a "pepper-box." The specific name is derived from the Latin _colum_,
a strainer, and the old English name we find in Berkeley "Cullender
puffball" refers to a cullender (or colander more modern form) now
almost obsolete in English, but meaning a kind of strainer. _Lloyd._

Found in sandy soil. It is quite rare. Both the generic and specific
names refer to its many mouths. The specimens in Figure 490 were found
on Green Island, Lake Erie, one of the points where this rare species is
found. It is found at Cedar Point, Ohio, also. The plant was
photographed by Prof. Schaffner of the Ohio State University.

CHAPTER XVI.

FAMILY--SPHAERIACEAE.

Perithecia carbonaceous or membranaceous, sometimes confluent with the
stroma, pierced at the apex, and mostly papillate; hymenium
diffluent.--_Berkeley Outlines._

There are four tribes in this family, viz:

Nectriaei.
Xylariaei.
Valsei.
Sphaeriei.

Under Nectriaei we have the following genera:

Stipitate--
Clavate or capitate Cordyceps.
Head globose, base sclerotioid Claviceps.
Parasitic on grass--
Stroma myceloid Epichloe.
Variable--
Sporidia double, finally separating Hypocrea.
Sporidia double, ejected in tendrils, parasitic on fungi Hypomyces.
Stroma definite, perithecia free, clustered or scattered Nectria.
Perithecia erect, in a polished and colored sac Oomyces.
Under Xylariaei we have:
Stipitate--
Stroma corky, subelavate Xylaria.
Stroma somewhat corky, discoid Poronia.

_Cordyceps. Fr._

Cordyceps is from a Greek word meaning a club and a Latin word meaning a
head. It is a genus of Pyrenomycetous fungi of which a few grow upon
other fungi, but by far the greater number are parasitic upon insects or
their larva, as will be seen in Figure 491.

The spores enter the breathing openings along the sides of the larva and
the mycelium grows