te, changing to a yellowish,
smoky hue.

LYCOPERDACEAE AND PHALLOIDEAE.

The plants figured in Plates G and H belong to the Lycoperdaceae and
Phalloideae.

LYCOPERDACEAE.

Massee, who has given the Puff-Ball group very close study, says that in
the gleba of the Lycoperdaceae, "at a very early period two sets of hyphae
are present. One, thin-walled, colorless, septate and rich in
protoplasm, gives origin to the trama, and elements of the hymenium, and
usually disappears entirely after the formation of the spores; the
second type consists of long thick-walled aseptate or sparsely septate,
often colored hyphae, which are persistent and form the capillitium. The
latter are branches of the hyphae forming the hymenium."

GENERA LYCOPERDON AND BOVISTA.

To the genera Lycoperdon and Bovista belong most of the "Puff-balls" and
all of the species figured in Plate G. In the plants of these two genera
the peridium is more or less distinctly double, and the hyphae, or
delicate threads which are seen mixed with the dusty mass of spores in
the mature plant, forming what is called the capillitium, are an
important element in classification.

_Genus Lycoperdon_ Tourn. In this genus the investing coat or peridium
is membranaceous, vanishing above or becoming flaccid; bark or outer
shell adnate, sub-persistent, breaking up into scales or warts;
capillitium soft, dense, and attached to the peridium, base spongy and
sterile.

[Illustration: Plate G.
Gasteromycetes.
Six Types of the "Puff-Ball" Group.
Edible.]

PLATE G.

EDIBLE PUFF-BALLS.

FIG. 1.--=Lycoperdon caelatum= Fries. "_Collapsing Puff-Ball_."

Peridium flaccid above, with mealy coating, obtuse, at length
collapsing, the sterile stratum cellulose. Inner peridium distinct from
the outer all round; capillitium nearly free, collapsing when mature,
threads long and brittle; spores dingy olive, turning brown; base
stem-like, broad and blunt, with root, obconical, somewhat spongy.
Common in pastures and open woods. Edible when young, but not much
commended. Plant pale cream color.

FIGS. 2 and 3.--=Lycoperdon gemmatum= Batsch. "_Warted Puff-Ball_,"
"_Studded Puff-Ball_."

Plant sub-globular, with a stem-like base; white or cinereous, turning
to light greyish-brown, the surface warty, the warts unequal, the larger
ones somewhat pointed, the smaller granular. As the warts fall off they
leave the surface of the denuded