ases 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.

[Illustration: FIGURE 210.--Lycoperdon gemmatum. Entirely white except
when old (natural size). Copyright.]

The plant at the extreme right is mature, and the inner peridium has
ruptured at the apex to permit the escape of the spores. The spore mass,
together with brownish threads which are intermingled, are greenish
yellow with an olive tinge, then they become pale brown. The spores are
rounded, 3.5--4.5 mu in diameter, s