Geastrum
Encyclopedia
Geastrum is a genus
of mushroom
in the family Geastraceae
. Many species are known commonly as earthstars.
The name comes from geo meaning earth and aster meaning star.
The name refers to the behavior of the outer peridium. At maturity, the outer layer of the fruiting body splits into segments which turn outward creating a star-like pattern on the ground. The inner peridium is a spore sack. In some species, the outer peridium splits from a middle layer, causing the spore sack to arch off the ground. If the outer peridium opens when wet and closes when dry. It is described as hygroscopic.
In some species, the inner peridium is borne on a stalk or pedicel. The columella is a column-like clump of sterile tissue to be found inside the inner peridium. The network of fertile tissue inside the inner perdium, the capillitium, arises from the columella. The mouth in most species of "earth-stars" is quite prominent, often arising as a small cone at the apex of the inner peridium. It may be even or sulcate (grooved).
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of mushroom
Mushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
in the family Geastraceae
Geastraceae
The earthstars are the family Geastraceae of gasterocarpic basidiomycetes . It includes the genera Geastrum and Myriostoma. About sixty-four species are classified in this family, divided among eight genera....
. Many species are known commonly as earthstars.
The name comes from geo meaning earth and aster meaning star.
The name refers to the behavior of the outer peridium. At maturity, the outer layer of the fruiting body splits into segments which turn outward creating a star-like pattern on the ground. The inner peridium is a spore sack. In some species, the outer peridium splits from a middle layer, causing the spore sack to arch off the ground. If the outer peridium opens when wet and closes when dry. It is described as hygroscopic.
In some species, the inner peridium is borne on a stalk or pedicel. The columella is a column-like clump of sterile tissue to be found inside the inner peridium. The network of fertile tissue inside the inner perdium, the capillitium, arises from the columella. The mouth in most species of "earth-stars" is quite prominent, often arising as a small cone at the apex of the inner peridium. It may be even or sulcate (grooved).
Species
Species include:- Geastrum andrewsii
- Geastrum argentatum
- Geastrum australeGeastrum australeGeastrum australe is an inedible species of mushroom belonging to the genus Geastrum, or earthstar fungi. It can be mistaken for Geastrum saccatum or Geasturm simulans, and is found in Melbourne....
- Geastrum berkeleyiGeastrum berkeleyiGeastrum berkeleyi is an inedible species of mushroom belonging to the genus Geastrum, or earthstar fungi.-External links:*...
- Geastrum campestreGeastrum campestreGeastrum campestre is an inedible species of mushroom belonging to the genus Geastrum, or earthstar fungi.-External links:*...
- Geastrum clelandii
- Geastrum congolense
- Geastrum corollinumGeastrum corollinumGeastrum corollinum is an inedible species of mushroom belonging to the genus Geastrum, or earthstar fungi.-External links:*...
- Geastrum coronatumGeastrum coronatumGeastrum coronatum is an inedible species of mushroom belonging to the genus Geastrum, or earthstar fungi. Christian Hendrik Persoon published the first description of Geastrum coronatum in 1801.-External links:*...
- Geastrum dissimile
- Geastrum drummondii
- Geastrum dubowskii
- Geastrum elegansGeastrum elegansGeastrum elegans is an inedible species of mushroom belonging to the genus Geastrum, or earthstar fungi.-External links:*...
- Geastrum elliptice
- Geastrum entomophilumGeastrum entomophilumGeastrum entomophilum is an inedible species of mushroom belonging to the genus Geastrum, or earthstar fungi. Found in northeast Brazil in 2008, the species was found with beetles inhabiting the spore sac, likely contributing to spore dissemination....
- Geastrum episcopale
- Geastrum fimbriatum f. pallidum
- Geastrum fimbriatumGeastrum fimbriatumGeastrum fimbriatum or Rounded Earthstar is an inedible species of mushroom belonging to the genus Geastrum, or earthstar fungi.-External links:*...
- Geastrum floriforme
- Geastrum fornicatumGeastrum fornicatumGeastrum fornicatum, commonly known as the acrobatic earthstar or the arched earthstar, is an inedible species of mushroom in the family Geastraceae...
- Geastrum hieronymi
- Geastrum hungaricum
- Geastrum kotlabae
- Geastrum lageniforme
- Geastrum leptospermumGeastrum leptospermumGeastrum leptospermum is a species of fungus in the Geastraceae family. It was first described scientifically by American mycologist George F. Atkinson in 1903...
- Geastrum lilloi
- Geastrum lloydianum
- Geastrum minimum
- Geastrum mirabile
- Geastrum morganii
- Geastrum oxylobum
- Geastrum pectinatumGeastrum pectinatumGeastrum pectinatum is an inedible species of mushroom belonging to the earthstar family of fungi. Although young specimens are spherical, fruit body development involves the outer layer of tissue splitting open like a star into 7 to 10 pointed rays that eventually bend back to point downward,...
- Geastrum pleosporus
- Geastrum pouzarii
- Geastrum pseudolimbatum
- Geastrum quadrifidumGeastrum quadrifidumGeastrum quadrifidum, commonly known as the rayed earthstar or four-footed earthstar, is an inedible species of mushroom belonging to the genus Geastrum, or earthstar fungi. First described scientifically by Christian Hendrik Persoon in 1794, G. quadrifidum is a cosmopolitan—but not...
- Geastrum rhizophorum
- Geastrum rufescens
- Geastrum rugulosum
- Geastrum saccatumGeastrum saccatumGeastrum saccatum, commonly known as the rounded earthstar, is a species of mushroom belonging in the Geastrum genus. It is found in North America and Europe and is found growing on rotting wood. It is considered inedible by mushroomers, because of its bitter taste. It is a common mushroom, but...
- Geastrum schmidelii
- Geastrum schweinitzii var. stipitatum
- Geastrum schweinitzii
- Geastrum smardae
- Geastrum smithii
- Geastrum stiptatum
- Geastrum striatum
- Geastrum subiculosum
- Geastrum tichifer
- Geastrum triplexGeastrum triplexGeastrum triplex is an inedible fungus which is found in the detritus and leaf litter of hardwood forests in many parts of the world. It is commonly known as the collared earthstar, the saucered earthstar, or the triple earthstar—and less commonly by the alternative species name Geastrum indicum...
- Geastrum velutinum
- Geastrum welwitschiiGeastrum welwitschiiGeastrum welwitschii is a species of fungus in the earthstar family. When young and unopened, the fruit bodies resemble small spheres lying in the soil...
- Geastrum xerophilum
- Geastrum xylogenum
Sources
- New Zealand Species
- British Species
- Czech Species and Photos
- Royal Botanical Gardens Melbourne
- New York Botanical Garden
- Ponce de Leon, Patricio, A Revision of the Family Geastraceae, Field Museum of Natural History 1968
- Arizona Members of the Geastraceae and Lycoperdaceae (Basidiomycota, Fungi) by Scott T. Bates
- Sunhede, Stellan, Geastraceae (Basidiomycotina) Morphology, ecology, and systematics with special emphasis on the north European species, Fungiflora, Oslo, Norway, 1989.