The English naturalist John Ray published the first description of the genus Pilobolus in 1688 (though not with that name). He described it (in Latin) as growing from horse dung and with the appearance of a dewy-topped hair, bearing a black spot at the apex. The combination of the transparent stem, swollen top and black dot led him to finish his description by saying that the fungus resembled the eye of a snail.
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