294 THE ESSEX NATURALIST
several centimetres a cloud of spores which drifts away like
smoke. If, at the moment of "puffing", the fruit-body is
Fig. 3. Peziza vesiculosa. Top: Section through a small apothecium
x 3; the arrows show the direction of discharge of the spores. Bottom:
Portions of the hymenium from the bottom and sides of the apothecium
highly magnified (X 120); again the arrows show the direction of discharge.
After Buller. Reproduced by permission of Messrs. Longman, Green & Co.
held close to the ear, a distinct hissing sound can be heard
associated with the bursting of the asci.
Puffing was figured as long ago as 1729 by the great
Italian botanist, Micheli, in his "Nova Plantarum