Bot. [mod.L., irreg. f. Gr. λύκο-ς wolf + πέρδεσθαι to break wind: a rendering of the Eng. name wolf’s fist (FIST sb.2).] The fungus Puff-ball, Lycoperdon Bovista.

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1756.  Gentl. Mag., XXVI. 430. The lycoperdon, or puff-ball.

2

1830.  Lindley, Nat. Syst. Bot., 335. Gasteromyci … comprehending … Lycoperdons and the like.

3

  b.  attrib.: lycoperdon nut (see quot.).

4

1886.  Treas. Bot., Lycoperdon nuts, the name under which the herbalists sell our common species of Elaphomyces.

5

  Hence Lycoperdoid a., resembling fungi of the genus Lycoperdon.

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1871.  W. A. Leighton, Lichen-flora, 243. Verrucæ large, globular,… lycoperdoid, eventually lacerato-dehiscent.

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