Tuesday 27 March 2012

A star from the earth

Doing some tidying up of one of our wattles and found a group of "Earth Stars" in the leaf litter. One of the puffball type of fungi, the earth stars get their common name from the splitting of the outer peridial wall into a star shape that surrounds the inner peridial wall that retains the typical puff shape.


I am fairly sure that this particular species is Geastrum triplex, as the third part of the reason for the name is the collar, that is very evident in the photo. Most of the stars were well past their best, as I suspect they have been out for a day or so and started to dry out, so I was pleased to find one that still looked quite good.

2 comments:

  1. Nice clear example of the species.
    I like the extra ring or collar.
    Denis

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  2. Thank Denis, I was pleased to get this shot.

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