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Botany

Published by Field Museum of Natural History

Volume 38, No. 1 November 5, 1975

Notes On Calvatia (Lycoperdaceae), I

PATRICIO PONCE DE LEON

ASSOCIATE CURATOR. CRYPTOGAMIC HERBARIUM

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

My studies toward a revision of the genus Calvatia included a
re -examination of the type of C. umbrina Lloyd. I have concluded
that this species, in reality, belongs to Bovista and that the
corresponding transfer should be made.

The structure of the peridia of the type specimen does suggest,
as Lloyd (1904) noted, that of Bovista pila Berk. & Curt. Lloyd,
however, was misled by the dehiscence of the endoperidium, which
he interpreted as being similar to that of Calvatia.

A re -examination of the endoperidium disclosed a leathery
consistency typical of that of the genus Bovista (see description).
The complete absence of a sterile base and the dark color of the
gleba (dark umber or dark cocoa) strengthened my first impression
that it was indeed a Bovista. The microscopic characters of the
branching and intertwined, deeply colored capillitium, and the
short -pedicellate, smooth spores all corroborate this conclusion and
suggest the position of Lloyd's species in Bovista subgenus
Globaria.

The epithet umbrina has been used for a different species of
Bovista by Bottomley (1948), now called B. fusca Lev. I propose to
adopt the specific epithet cacao, referring to the color of the gleba.
The name of this species therefore will be Bovista cacao.

Bovista cacao P. Ponce, nomen novum. C. umbrina Lloyd,
Myc. Writ. 1 (Ll): 2. 1904. Illustrations: Zeller & Smith, The genus
Calvatia in North America, Lloydia 27(3): 174 (plate XI), 1964.

Basidiocarps 4-6 cm. in diameter, globose to subglobose, attached below by a
single, small cord; exoperidjtim thin, smooth, yellowish brown, of slender,
cyanophilous hyphae, these ribbon -shaped, 7-10 ju wide with very thin walls which
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 75-25180

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FIG. 1. Bovista cacao. A, capillitium and spores; B, exoperidium hyphae; C,
endoperidium hyphae.

PONCE DE LEON: NOTES ON CALVATIA 3

disappear promptly, leaving only partial remnants; endoperidium thin, smooth, dark
brown, almost black, and somewhat reminiscent of the endoperidium of Bovista pila,
composed of slender hyphae, 3-4 ju wide, cylindrical with very thick walls and
irregular ramifications; these hyphae interwoven in a very close mesh, causing the
leathery consistency of the endoperidium; dehiscence is by a large, irregular opening;
gleba without sterile base, dark umber or cocoa color, not powdery; capillitium
threads brown, slowly cyanophilous, broken into large fragments, very much
branched, forming independent units very difficult to separate because the long,
tapering branches are intertwined, each unit composed of some central pieces 15-20 JJL
wide with branches which become gradually narrower, from 10 to 5 ju, wide, these also
branching into very slender, tapering ramifications ending in subacute apices, the
slender branches very irregular and interwoven, the walls about 1 ju, thick, smooth and
pitted, the pits more or less round and small, threads septate, some broadened at the
septa; spores 4-9 ju in diameter, globose to subglobose, smooth, pale brown, with a
thick wall and a stump of a pedicel; in the preparation it is possible to observe
several broken pedicels among the spores as well as some strongly cyanophilous
fragments of probable hymenial origin.

Type species. — Erhorn s.n. Mountain View, California, Lloyd
catalog no. 20679 (BPI).

Distribution. — Known only from the type locality.
Habitat. — On the ground.

Discussion. — This species was compared with Calvatia
hesperia by Lloyd (1904), but, in my view, there is no similarity
between these two species. Although the peridia resemble those of
Bovista pila, the capillitium is different, belonging to another
subgenus in Kreisel's (1967) classification of the Bovistas.

REFERENCES

BOTTOMLEY, A. M.

1948. Gasteromycetes of South Africa. Bothalia 4, p. 580.

KREISEL, H.

1967. The genus Bovista. Beih. Nova Hedwigia 25.

LLOYD, C. H.

1904. Myc. Writ. 1 (LI), p. 2.

ZELLER, S. M. and A. H. SMITH

1964. The genus Calvatia in North America. Lloydia 27(3), pp. 174-175 (plate XI).

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