of the spores
with the supporting basidia and the hyphae, is enclosed within the
substance of the fungus, and the spores are exposed only on the decay of
the investing coat.

The basidia of the Gasteromycetes, though resembling those of the
Hymenomycetes, are more variable in form and the number of the spores
not so constant. They perform the same functions and bear spicules,
sometimes in pairs, sometimes quaternate, each spicule being surmounted
by a spore. They dissolve away as the spores mature and can, therefore,
only be observed in the very young stage of the plant. The spores of the
Gasteromycetes are usually colored and, except in the subterranean
species, globose. As seen through the microscope they have often a rough
warty appearance, sometimes spinulose. Paraphyses may be present as
aborted basidia, but cystidia are rarely distinguished. A characteristic
of a large proportion of the plants is the drying up of the hymenial
substance, so that the cavity of the receptacle becomes at length filled
with a dusty mass composed of spores and delicate threads, the remains
of the shriveled hyphae.

The following table will serve to show the distinctive features of the
four primary divisions of the Gasteromycetes:

_Lycoperdaceae_.--Hymenium fugitive, drying in a dusty mass of
threads and spores, dispersed by an opening or by fissures of the
peridium. Terrestrial.

_Phalloideae_.--Hymenium deliquescent and slimy; receptacle pileate;
volva universal. Foetid fleshy fungi.

_Hypogaei_, or _Hymenogastreae_.--Hymenium permanent, not becoming
dusty or deliquescent except when decayed. Capillitium wanting.
Subterranean.

_Nidulariaceae_.--Receptacle cup-shaped or globose; spores produced
on sporophores or short basidia enclosed in globose or disciform
bodies (sporangia) contained within a distinct peridium.
Terrestrial.

The section Lycoperdaceae contains upwards of 500 species or more than
two-thirds of the whole number of recorded species of the
Gasteromycetes. Lycoperdon, Bovista, and Geaster, its most conspicuous
genera, are said to contain the largest number of well-known species. A
few are edible.

The Phalloideae include about 90 species. The plants are usually
ill-smelling and unwholesome. Some are stipitate, others are latticed,
etc. Some are conspicuous for their bright coloring. In the young stage
they are enclosed in an egg-shaped volva having a gelatinous