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Show 52 7he Hijlory of P L A N T S. ii lits into fix or e1ght fegments, the d.lV t' {iw ns o f w h.l'C h . r.un. down to the thveer y rocuenntde r Jmoft. Thefe fcgments, or rays, immediately on thetr dt~tdmg, fall flftat fto h g d.; they are not lanceolated and enu·r e, as m· t 1J e fio rmer· fipectes ' but mo o t em are I- 1 1 . r. d t~ vidcd into three or four fegments eac I1 , at t he en d · The who .e voh va t,s compfto te d-o two thin membrane~, wt. th very J' 1 t · b tween them · m t e center an s a Itt e mater e .. ·I h . the ra s of round body of the bignefs of a final! walnut, at the top of wh!C 1,. ~ erel h dy f the volva once unJ· ted, there I·S a fi e1 1 ate J • apable of adm1ttma ue ea o a 1 ~pemng, c . o .. large pm· . Tl1 1· s wn' o 1 b od y ·JS r• iled w11}1 a cellular ' fipung.._ y f•u bfiance, co1.1t•a tmn. g flowers, feeds, and tLcir pl· uwlre, which are all together, w1~h the commmutc,d matter of the cellular fubtlanc .... , thro\11 JJ out, at the fielLir aperture at the top. '!'he txtended' volva of thL fpu;i~s .teldcll r. me<.~fure~ more than an inch and ha.lf .111 ta~lete~. This is alfo a native viti us, ' lilt it is verv r, i e: I have only once 1cen 1t. m t e Jan. s of the late defervedly en .=nenL tr Li tieton Brown, who had colleCted It fomewhete about Chehenham. T oJ 1•1 ~fon ,ne<J tions it under the. name .. of Lycoperdon ve.flc~: rium fiellatum; and Michell unut.I tll lt of Geafter medrus radus plcrumque mult1Jld1s umbilico feu ore fiellato. 7. L_ycoperdon · !va /lellata, radiis fi.Jlili/;us. The ;1arr ~ 1 ; '{Jet:don, with Jijjile raJ's. This is one of the mofi tJI .gular ,I) thefe plants; the volv.1 is thicker, and of a tougher fubfl:an ·e than in any ,. thL . and is very evidently compofed, th:on ~h?ut, of t·vo fipn an( fl:r .1g l 1emb.J.nf n ;.( glutinous matter between. It IS dtvld d ufually only int rJ {. li rays, ,,nd t. .:!it' onfiderably broad, and the divifion runs very deep; they arc iimltt! md ~ndiv· o .~ ends. In the center of the volva fiands the body of the h mgu., It I!:i 1 m d• ! ; .. • \ ft1pported on a {hort pedicle, and is fill~d, like the reft with a 1ungy 1at , con ·"'!ling flowers and feeds, and fina.lly lettmg them out it; form of puv rdcr, " an c'} uce in it's top. As this Fungus r.Ipens, the two membranes of whicn the vc lv·~ is compofed divide all the way, except_ JUft at the tips of the fegments, where they .. re m (.)j(' firmly connected together. I.t IS not long after this diviiion that the upper part, wah the body of the Fungus, be~ms to elevate itfelf from the lower, and, by degrees, raiies itfdf up, and forms a kmd of arched tower, with the body of the Fungus at it's tOJ?; the extremities of the fegments of the volva alfo, where the two membranes remam connected, are bent up cor:fide~ably, [o that the whole is raifed to at leaft as much ht.:ight as the volva had before 111 diameter. In this flate it makes a moil: flngular and furprifing figure. It is a native o~ E~gand, and, fo far as we at prefent know, peculiar to it. We owe the commumcati~n of it to the late Mr Nicholls, an apothecary in W efl:minfl:cr, and an excellent Latm dcfcription of it in the Philofophical TranfaB:ions, to the great ornament of that profcffion, Mr vVilliam Watfon. That gentleman is for fcparating this and the other fiellate Lycoperdons fi·om ~he others under the name of Geafier, as differing extremely in figure; we !hall gtv.c abundant proof, in the fucceeding part of this work, that we are perfeCtly of h13 opinion, that, in the plants whofe fruCtification is lefs vifible, we ought to take the externat form into the lifi of generical charaB:eriftics : but the refult of a very careful examination of the Lycoperdon family., fuch as it could not be worth any body's while to make who was not to write upon them, convinces us that there is no eficntid difiinClion be ween the Lycoperdons and Geafters. The other fpecies of the Lycoperdon kind will be diflinguifhed by their names. The mofl: fl.ngubr of them are, r. The common, oval Lycoperdon. 2. The great, round Lycoperdon. 3· The thick-barked, comprelfed Lycoperdon. 4· The Lycoperdon, with a long, fcabrous pedicle. 5· The fmall, roundi0.1 Lycoperdon, with a very long fcabrous pedicle. 6. The white, umbilicated Lycoperdon. 7· The grey, hairy Lycoperdon. 8. The white, woolly Lycoperdon. 9· The c01·dated, or heart-like Lycoperdon. 1 o. The white, papillary Lycoperdon. I I. The white Lycoperdon, with quadrangular fpines. I2. The rigid, pricked Lycoperdon. 13. The black-barked Lycoperdon. 1 4· The chefnut Lycoperdon. I 5. The fmooth, yellowi0.1, round Lycoperdon. 16. The ferrugineous, tuberous Lycoperdon. 17. The yellow, tuberous Lycoperdon. I~. The blui!h, round Lycoperdon, with fibrous, tufted roots, and a very thick _pedicle. 19. The onion Lycoperdon. 20. The yellow, thin-1k inned J .yeo·· perdon, w1th a purple pulp. 0 The Hiftory of P L A N T S. 53 Of the fiellate kind, or thofe ufually called Geafiers, befide the three fpecies already dekribed, there are, I. The pale-red, ftellate Lycoperdon, with a fimbriated ofculum. 2 . he fin~lll, rough, ftellate Lycoperdon, with a ihort pedicle; and, 3· The large fiellated Lycoperdon, with a ftellated ofculum, F U N G 1 C!afs the Seco?Zd. Genus the Fourth. C A R P 0 B 0 L U S. CARP 0 B 0 L US is a genus of Fungi, confifiing of a hollow body, in form of a cup, furroundcd by a volva of. the (une fo~m; and containing in it's center. a fln gle f ui t, of a round fignre, to the mfidc of~ hrch ~dhere the male flo~ver~, and m the cavity of which are lodged the female; wh1ch fru1t, when mature, IS d1fchargcLl entire, by a violent inv riion of the body of the Fungu!!, and a~terwards b~dls, and difcharges it's feeds . T he male flowers are fingle anther<r, adbenng to the mn(r furface of the upper part of the fruit in vafi numbers, each having a 0.10rt fllament to fupport it. Of the female flr)wcrs we can diftingui0.1 no part but the feeds, which are very minute, and round. Michdi, who tirtl. rlikovercd thi fingular genus, very jufily di fl iu t!;ui!hed it from all the other genera of Fungi: Linna?us, and fome others, refer th is, with the gcall:er, to the lycoperdons. We agree widt them in referring the geafter to that genus, becau fe the effential characters arc the fame in all the fpccics of both, and the iOle diffe rt nce is, in the manner of the volva feparating from the plant; but, in th is c,tfe, we are very fenfible that every one, who has an opportunity of examining thefc li ttle pl.w ts, will find them fufTlciently generically diftcr~nt f~om the ly.copet don; they have not the fame in ternal OruB:urc, nor the filme fruB:1ficat!On, nor, wdecd, do they at all agree to the charaB:ers Linn<~us bimfclt gives of the genus; it evidently approaches mo1 e to the Cyathia, next to be defcribed , than to the Lycoperdon, but it is, in reality, a genus quite difiind from both. 1. Carpobolus albidus figment is latis planis. The white Carpobolus, ·with broad, plain figments. T his is an extremely minute plant, and, like the others of this genus, requires a very careful infpe<1ion and examination to tlnd out it's cluraCtcrs. It's firfl appt,trancc is in £()1m of a little whitifh mafs, of the bignefs of a pin's-head, and of a iomt.:what dufly fu rface. Aft~.;r it has been in th i ~ !tate lome time, it opens at the top, and divides mto fix or eight fegments; this divifion !hews, t h<lt what was at firfl: fcen was only the ext<..: rnal membrane, or volva, of an included I• ungus of the fitmc 0.1ape which now appears within , divided into the i~une number of 1t:gmcnts, at the edge, wtth the volva, and perfetlly refc.:mbling it in figure. The fcgments of both are b~t O.wrt, and, ~he di vifion b in(}' carried only a little depth , the body of the volva, wnh that of the 111- cludtd Fung~s , becomes of the figure of the half of a hollow fpherc, or of a bdlitd cup, with rlcn•atcd edges: the fcgmults are broa<i, and pointed at th~.: end, and they do not fia nd erdl:, but droop, or curl, downwards a litt le. The inner 1w·t of the Fungus is conmctcd to the vulva by many tcnd,>r fibres, anrl there is a foft, gelatinous matter between them, fi lling up the intermediate fpace: in the b.1fc of the up there i , aH0, contained a qu::ntity of the filme gdatinous matter, and in that is immctf~c! a fi!wll, round fruit, of a whitilh C< lour, as is all the rcft of the Fungus: as the C.lVlty of the plant is now expofed~ thi" lic1?or by degre.es dries away, and, the fruit ripening dur~ng the Cune time, the hbres whrch connect It to the bafe of the ph,nt, and thole wh1ch fafien the plant itfelf to it's velva, wither; and, the connection between the plant and .it's valva being thus entirely difFJlved, when the fruit is pcrfcCll~ ripened, the hol.low b<~f~ of the plant rifcs in to a convexity, and the whole cup does the fame, the volva fi11l ret,nnmg it's place and figure. The inverfion of this cup is infhntaneous, and, the conneCtion between the f1 uit and it's bafe having been already broken, the coniequencc of it i~, that the fruit is thrown up to a confiderablc diflancc entire, in which fL1te it remains till, it's outer membrane being diifulvcd, the feeds are at liberty to grow. The inner cup of the plant, thus inv~,;rtcd on the volva, gives the appearance of two P fcgments |