This section is from the book "The Mushroom Book", by Nina L. Marshall. Also available from Amazon: Mushroom Book.
The genus Geoglossum has the spore body simple, erect, and club-shaped, and entirely black. The spore surface is terminal.
Geoglossum hirsutum
Geoglossum hirsutum is black, dry, and everywhere velvety. Lanceolate, ovate, oblong, or almost round, often irregular. The spore-bearing portion is one-quarter to one-half the length of the fungus.
Geoglossum glabrum
Geoglossum glabrum is dry, black, or brownish black, sometimes tinged with olive or purple. Club-shaped or sometimes laterally compressed. The spore-bearing portion not sharply distinct from the stem below.
 
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