en 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 x
8--10 mu.

[Illustration: PLATE 82, FIGURE 211.--Calostoma cinnabarinum. See text
for colors (natural size).]

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_.

CHAPTER XV.

THE STINK-HORN FUNGI: PHALLOIDEAE Fries.

Most of the stink-horn fungi are characterized by a very offensive odor.
Some of them at maturity are in shape not unlike that of a horn, and the
vulgar name is applied because of this form and the odor. The plants
grow in the ground, or in decaying organic matter lying on the ground.
The spawn or mycelium is in the form of rope-like strands which are
usually much branched and matted together. From these cords the fruit
form arises. During its period of growth and up to the maturity of the
spores, the fruit body is oval, that is, egg form, and because of this
form and the quite large size of these bodies they are often called
"eggs." The outer portion of the egg forms the volva. It is always
thick, and has an outer thin coat or membrane, and an inner membrane,
while between the t