# Gleba

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{{Short description|Spore-bearing part of certain fungi}}
{{About|the part of some fungi|the village in Poland|Gleba, Masovian Voivodeship|the mollusc genus|Gleba (gastropod)}}
[[File:Pigskin Poison Puffball.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The gleba of the "common earthball" (''[Scleroderma citrinum](/source/Scleroderma_citrinum)'') has a dark color.]]

'''Gleba''' ({{IPAc-en|'|g|l|i:|b|@}}, from [Latin](/source/Latin) ''glaeba, glēba'', "lump") is the fleshy [spore](/source/spore)-bearing inner mass of certain [fungi](/source/fungi) such as the [puffball](/source/puffball) or [stinkhorn](/source/stinkhorn).

The gleba is a solid mass of spores, generated within an enclosed area within the [sporocarp](/source/sporocarp_(fungi)). The continuous maturity of the [sporogenous](/source/Sporogenesis) cells leave the spores behind as a powdery mass that can be easily blown away. The gleba may be sticky or it may be enclosed in a case (peridiole).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mushroomthejournal.com/greatlakesdata/Terms/gleba304.html |title=gleba definition |access-date=2008-10-24 |work=Mycological Glossary |publisher=Illinois Mycological Association |location=Illinois, United States |quote=As the spores mature, the sporogenous cells often liquify and/or disintegrate, leaving just the spores behind as a powdery mass that can easily blow away... In other cases, the  gleba may be sticky, as in Sphaerobolus stellatus; or it may be enclosed in a case (called a peridiole), as in the Nidulariaceae. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305061001/http://www.mushroomthejournal.com/greatlakesdata/Terms/gleba304.html |archive-date=March 5, 2012 }}</ref>

It is a tissue usually found in an angiocarpous fruit-body, especially [gasteromycetes](/source/gasteromycetes). Angiocarpous fruit-bodies usually consist of fruit enclosed within a covering that does not form a part of itself; such as the [filbert](/source/Hazelnut) covered by its husk, or the acorn seated in its [cupule](/source/Calybium_and_cupule). The presence of gleba can be found in [earthball](/source/earthball)s and [puffball](/source/puffball)s. The gleba consists of [mycelium](/source/mycelium) and [basidia](/source/basidia) and may also contain [capillitium](/source/capillitium) threads.<ref name="Miller 1988">{{cite book |author=Miller HR, Miller OK. |title=Gasteromycetes: Morphological and Developmental Features, with Keys to the Orders, Families, and Genera |publisher=Mad River Press |location=Eureka, California |year=1988 |isbn=0-916422-74-7}}</ref><!--cites previous two sentences-->

Gleba found on the fruit body of species in the family [Phallaceae](/source/Phallaceae) is typically gelatinous, often fetid-smelling, and deliquescent (becoming liquid from the absorption of water). It is formed on the exterior face of the cap or the upper part of the fruit body. The foul smell helps to attract insects that help disperse the spores. Chemicals that contribute to the odor include [methylmercaptan](/source/methylmercaptan) and [hydrogen sulfide](/source/hydrogen_sulfide).<ref>Miller and Miller (1988), p. 75.</ref>

{{anchor|subgleba}}
A '''subgleba''' is a "sterile, filamentous or chambered tissue which supports the gleba".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grgurinovic |first=C. A. |date=1996 |title=Fungi of Australia Glossary |url=https://www.dcceew.gov.au/science-research/abrs/online-resources/glossaries/fungi |website=dcceew.gov.au}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
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Category:Fungal morphology and anatomy

{{Agaricomycetes-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Gleba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleba) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleba?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.