Class I. Gasteromycetes, or Stomach Fungi
The Basidia-bearing fungi, or Basidiomycetes, are divided into three classes, as has been already stated. The third class, Hymenomycetes, or Membrane fungi, has been described, but there remain two other groups of which we will now speak more fully. They may be considered too difficult for beginners, and we would not venture to enter further into the subject were it not that some of the most familiar fungi belong to these classes—such as Puff-balls, Morels, and Helvellas.
The first class, called the Gasteromycetes, or Stomach fungi, matures its spores on the inside of the plant. The distinction between this class and that of the Membrane fungi, which ripens its spores on the outside, may be more readily understood by one familiar with the structure of the fig, whose flowers are situated on the interior of its pear-shaped, hollow axis, which is the fruit.
We will divide the Stomach fungi into four orders—1, the thick-skinned fungi (Sclerodermæ); 2, the Bird’s-nest fungi (Nidulariæ); 3, the Puff-balls (Lycoperdons); 4, the Stink horns (Phalloidæ.)