The Phalloideae, sometimes called the "Stink-horn" fungi on account of their foetid odor, are not numerous, the whole number of described species being about eighty. The plants are watery, quick in growth, and decay very rapidly. They are varied in form and are quite unlike the ordinary mushroom types. In some of the genera the plants are columnar and phalloid, in other clathrate or latticed, in others again the disk is stellate, and in one genus it is coralloid, but they are all enclosed, in the early stage, in a volva which is at first hidden or partially hidden beneath the surface of the ground. A gelatinous stratum is contained within the firmer outside membrane. _Genus Ithyphallus_. In this genus the cap is perforated at the top, free from the stem and reticulate. No veil. The mature plants are columnar in form with the remains of the volva enclosing the column-like stem at the base; the cap in its deeply pitted reticulations somewhat resembling that of the _Morel_, although of different texture. [Illustration: Plate H. Gasteromycetes. Phalloideae. Figs. 1 to 6, Ithyphallus impudicus, Linn. "Foetid Mushroom." Fig. 7, Clathrus cancellatus, Fr. "Latticed Mushroom." Unwholesome.] PLATE H. FIGS. 1 to 6.--=Ithyphallus= _impudicus_ Linn. "_Foetid Wood Witch_." In the embryonic stage the plant is enclosed in a volva which is composed of three layers, the outer one firm, the intermediate one gelatinous, and the inner one consisting of a thin membrane. The gleba, or spore-bearing portion, in the early stage forms a conical honeycombed cap within the inner shell or membrane, concealing the stem to which it is attached. The stem at this stage is very short, cylindrical, and composed of small cells filled with a gelatinous substance. The volva is about the size of a hen's egg. On maturity it ruptures at the apex. The stem rapidly expands and, elongating, elevates the cap into the air. The stem becomes open and spongy, owing to the drying of the gelatinous matter and its quick expansion.