This is not the place for a discussion of the different genera of the puff-balls, etc., but it might be well to say that in recent years the old genus Lycoperdon has been divided into several genera. The giant puff-ball, and the L. cyathiforme, where the wall or peridium ruptures irregularly, have been placed in a genus called Calvatia; certain other species which are nearly globose, and in which the wall is of a papery texture at maturity, are placed in the genus Bovista. There is one genus belonging to the same family as the lycoperdons, the species of which are very interesting on account of the peculiar way in which the wall is ruptured. This is the genus Geaster, that is, "earth star." The wall, or peridium, is quite thick in the members of this genus, and when it matures it separates into several layers which need not all be discussed here. A thick outer portion which separates from a thinner inner portion further splits radially into several star-like divisions, which spread outward and give to the plant the form of a star. Since the plants lie on the earth the name earth star was applied to them. This opens out in dry weather, even curving around under the plant, so that the plant is raised above the ground. Then in wet weather it closes up again. The inner portion of the wall opens at the apex in various ways, in the different species, so that the spores may escape. A closely related genus has several small perforations like a pepper box in the upper surface of the inner wall, Myriostoma.

LYCOPERDON Tourn.

To this genus belong most of the "puff-balls," as they are commonly called, or, as they are denominated in the South, "Devil's snuff box." All, or a large portion, of the interior of the plant at maturity breaks down into a powdery substance, which with the numerous spores is very light, and when the plant is squeezed or pressed, clouds of this dust burst out at the opening through the wall. The wall of the plant is termed the peridium. In this genus the wall is quite thin, and at maturity opens differently in different species. In several species it opens irregularly, the entire wall becoming very brittle and cracking up into bits, as in the giant puff-ball. In the remaining species it opens by a distinct perforation at the apex, and the remainder of the wall is more or less pliant and membranous. All of the puff-balls are said to be edible, at least are harmless, if eaten when the flesh is white. They should not be eaten when the flesh is dark, or is changing from the white color.

Lycoperdon giganteum Batsch. Edible.—This, the giant puff-ball, is the largest species of the genus. Sometimes it reaches immense proportions, two to three or even four feet, but these large sizes are rare. It is usually 20 to 40 cm. (8–16 in.) in diameter. It grows on the ground in grassy places during late summer and in the autumn. It is a large rounded mass, resting on the ground, and near or at the center of the under side, it is attached to the cords of mycelium in the ground. It is white in color until it is ripe, that is, when the spores are mature, and it should be gathered for food before it is thus ripe. When it is maturing it becomes yellowish, then dusky or smoky in color. The flesh, which is white when young, changes to greenish yellow and finally brownish, with usually an olivaceous tinge, as the spores ripen.

The plant is so large that it may be sliced, and should be sliced before broiling. A single specimen often forms enough for a meal for a large family, and some of the larger ones would serve for several meals.

Lycoperdon cyathiforme Bosc. Edible.—This is called the beaker-shaped puff-ball because the base of the plant, after the spores have all been scattered, resembles to some extent a beaker, or a broad cup with a stout, stem-like base. These old sterile bases of the plant are often found in the fields long after the spores have disappeared. The plants are somewhat pear-shaped, rounded above, and tapering below to the stout base. They are 7–15 cm. in diameter, and white when young. At maturity the spore mass is purplish, and by this color as well as by the sterile base the plant is easily recognized. Of course these characters cannot be recognized in the young and growing plant at the time it is wanted for food, but the white color of the interior of the plant would be a sufficient guarantee that it was edible, granted of course that it was a member of the puff-ball family. Sometimes, long before the spores mature, the outer portion of the plant changes from white to pinkish, or brownish colors. At maturity the wall, or peridium, breaks into brittle fragments, which disappear and the purplish mass of the spores is exposed. The plant grows in grassy places or even in cultivated fields.

Lycoperdon gemmatum Batsch. Edible.—This puff-ball is widely distributed throughout the world and is very common. It grows in the woods, or in open places on the ground, usually. It is known from its characteristic top shape, the more or less erect scales on the upper surface intermingled with smaller ones, the larger ones falling away and leaving circular scars over the surface, which gives it a reticulate appearance. The plants are white, becoming dark gray or grayish brown when mature. They vary in size from 3–7 cm. high to 2–5 cm. broad. They are more or less top-shaped, and the stem, which is stout, is sometimes longer than the rounded portion, which is the fruiting part. The outer part of the wall (outer peridium) when quite young separates into warts or scales of varying size, large ones arranged quite regularly with smaller ones between. These warts are well shown in the two plants at the left in Fig. 210, and the third plant from the left shows the reticulations formed of numerous scars on the inner peridium where the larger scales have fallen away.

Another small puff-ball everywhere common in woods is the Lycoperdon pyriforme, so called because of its pear shape. It grows on very rotten wood or on decaying logs in woods or groves, or in open places where there is rotting wood. It is somewhat smaller than the gem-bearing lycoperdon, is almost sessile, sometimes many crowded very close together, and especially is it characterized by prominent root-like white strands of mycelium which are attached to the base where the plant enters the rotten wood. While these small species of puff-balls are not injurious to eat, they do not seem to possess an agreeable flavor. There are quite a number of species in this country which cannot be enumerated here.

Related to the puff-balls, and properly classed with them, are the species of Scleroderma. This name is given to the genus because of the hard peridium, the wall being much firmer and harder than in Lycoperdon. There are two species which are not uncommon, Scleroderma vulgare and S. verrucosum. They grow on the ground or on very rotten wood, and are sessile, often showing the root-like white strands attached to their base. They vary in size from 2–6 cm. and the outer wall is cracked into numerous coarse areas, or warts, giving the plant a verrucose appearance, from which one of the species gets its specific name.

Calostoma cinnabarinum Desv.—This is a remarkably beautiful plant with a general distribution in the Eastern United States. It has often been referred to in this country under the genus name Mitremyces, and sometimes has been confused with a rarer and different species, Calostoma lutescens (Schw.) Burnap. It grows in damp woods, usually along the banks of streams and along mountain roads. It is remarkable for the brilliant vermilion color of the inner surface of the outer layer of the wall (exoperidium), which is exposed by splitting into radial strips that curl and twist themselves off, and by the vermilion color of the edges of the teeth at the apex of the inner wall (endoperidium). The plant is 2–8 cm. high, and 1–2 cm. in diameter. When mature the base or stem, which is formed of reticulated and anastomosing cords, elongates and lifts the rounded or oval fruiting portion to some distance above the surface of the ground, when the gelatinous volva ruptures and falls to the ground or partly clings to the stem, exposing the peridium, the outer portion of which then splits in the manner described.

When the plant is first seen above the ground it appears as a globose or rounded body, and in wet weather has a very thick gelatinous layer surrounding it. This is the volva and is formed by the gelatinization of the outer layer of threads which compose it. This gelatinous layer is thick and also viscid, and when the plants are placed on paper to dry, it glues them firmly to the sheet. When the outer layer of the peridium splits, it does so by splitting from the base toward the apex, or from the apex toward the base. Of the large number of specimens which I have seen at Blowing Rock, N. C., the split more often begins at the apex, or at least, when the slit is complete, the strips usually stand out loosely in a radiate manner, the tips being free. At this stage the plant is a very beautiful object with the crown of vermilion strips radiating outward from the base of the fruit body at the top of the stem, and the inner peridium resting in the center and terminated by the four to seven teeth with vermilion edges. At this time also the light yellow spore mass is oozing out from between the teeth. The spores are oblong to elliptical, marked with very fine points, and measure 15–18 × 8–10 µ.

Figure 211 is from plants collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., in September, 1899. The Mytremyces lutescens reported in my list of "Some Fungi of Blowing Rock, N. C.," in Jour. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 9: 95–107, 1892, is this Calostoma cinnabarinum.