Vaulted starfish (geastrum fornicatum): what it looks like, where and how it grows, edible or not, what is useful

Varieties

All representatives of the star family are divided into 2 large groups: conditionally edible and inedible. Vaulted eukaryotes belong to the first species, because in theory they can be used for food, although the pulp of the young geastrum is tasteless and odorless.

At the end of the life cycle, starfish are unsuitable for cooking any dishes, regardless of the species.

in nature, there are several varieties of geastrum, which are divided into conditionally edible and inedible

Similar species

Small starfish belongs to the inedible similar species. It grows in areas dominated by limestone. The speaking name indicates the small size of the cap during the period of underground development.

However, the shell of the fruiting body is divided into 10-12 parts. The four-bladed starlet has only 4 of them.

In addition, in this species, the upper surface of the endoperidium is smooth, and the vaulted specimens on the skin have microscopic fibers that resemble eyelashes.

A description of the starfish called striped says that this mushroom is small in size and light in color in the early stages of development. Its fruiting body resembles a bulb.

This species grows in soils with a high alkali content. For normal development, this starfish requires a lot of moisture, so you can find it in wetlands. The pulp can be eaten by pre-fried or boiled. Some mushroom pickers claim that when cooked, this mushroom tastes like champignons.

black-headed starfish belongs to the inedible species of geastrum

In warm forests, where mainly deciduous trees grow, in city parks and squares, you can find black-headed starfish. The dark color of the fruiting body, framed by a brown shell, is more reminiscent of a flower rather than a star, as in other similar species. The mushroom is inedible.

Inedible species

The star family are mostly inedible species of mushrooms, at the same time they are not poisonous. Often, representatives of this family are used in traditional medicine.

1. The triple earthen star is a mushroom slightly different from related species, which is characterized by a double layer of the outer shell. When ripe, the surface bursts into pieces, forming an unequal number of rays, and the inner one turns into a kind of border framing the spore-bearing body, thus forming a bowl. The color of the mushroom body is from light beige to brownish.
2. Striped starfish - as well as the form described above, has characteristic differences. The mycelium of this type of mushroom is located not like most representatives of this family - under the surface of the earth, but above it. As the specimens mature, the fruiting body forms long, creamy rays that give the mushroom the shape of a star. Over time, these rays crack and darken significantly. An elongated spore-bearing body of small size is located on a small and rather powerful stalk. Differs in a characteristic gray color with a light bloom. The central part is divided by stripes.
3. Fringed starlet is a mushroom whose fruit body is partially hidden under the ground. The outer shell of a brownish tint, as a rule, bursts into 6-7 parts bent to the bottom. The sphere with spores is gray; there is a weakly outlined bowl (courtyard) bordering it.
4. Crowned starfish is a mushroom with gray rays having a matte shade. The spore-bearing part is located on a thin and rather short stalk. The immediate central part is darker than star-like.
5. Small star - the smallest geastrum in size. The parts of the outer shell, as a rule, are divided into a fairly large number of parts (up to 12).The color of the rays is light beige, they crack over time, exposing the lighter inner part. The spore body is gray, darkens with maturation, at the apex there is an elongated proboscis.
6. The black-headed geastrum is a subspecies of the family that has significant differences. At the beginning of growth, the body of the fungus resembles such a species as a raincoat, which has a characteristic light color of the fruiting body; as it grows, the shell divides into parts (up to 8), opening the body of the spore-bearing ball. Note that the inner part of the rays is covered with dark mature spores, which are carried by the wind in bad weather.
7. Four-pointed earthen star - this species, like many of its congeners, during the ripening period raises the fruit body above the surface of the soil. The color of the fruit body is gray-white, spore-bearing - gray.

Striped earth star (Geastrum striatum)

Current title

Systematic position

Etymology of the species epithet

Striatus, a, um striped, folded, wrinkled, grooved.

Synonyms

• Geastrum bryantii Berk. , Outl. Brit. Fung. (London): 300 (1860)
• Geastrum calyculatum Fuckel, Jb. nassau. Ver. Naturk. 23-24: 37 (1870)
• Geastrum kunzei G. Winter, Rabenh. Krypt.-Fl., Edn 2 (Leipzig) 1.2: 911 (1886)

Habit

Fruit body: Rounded, star-shaped, merry, nested (gasteroid)

Hymenophore: Absent or difficult to classify

Fruiting body

Fruit bodies are initially closed, almost spherical, often with a tubercle at the apex, sometimes compressed above and below; mature fruiting bodies - open, 30 - 60 (90) mm in diameter.

Exoperidium is not hygroscopic, white or light gray, fleshy, flexible, leathery, dry brittle, light brown, brownish brown, with cracks. When ripe, it breaks from top to bottom into 6 - 8 (10) unequal pointed blades, at first outstretched, then curving up or down with their ends. The outer mycelial layer of exoperidium is creamy, covered with mycelial strands and a thick layer of litter. The base is slightly concave.

The gleb is spherical, strongly flattened from above, 10 - 20 mm in diameter, with a pedicle at the base. At the apex, it opens with a hole equipped with a conical, densely folded (up to 36 folds) peristome 4 - 7 mm high and 5 - 7 mm in diameter. Feathery at first covered with a powdery coating, like all endopyridium, and therefore appears smooth. Only after the plaque is removed, the grooves and folds become visible and acquire a black-brown color.

The endoperidium surrounding the glebe is single-layered, thin, firm, black or brown, initially covered with a thick flesh-pink powdery coating, which is washed off over time.

The apophysis is black-brown, striped, with a sharp, smooth, shiny edge.

Columella is bulbous, with a narrowed part directed upwards. The leg is cylindrical, 2 - 5 mm in diameter, light brown, brown.

Microscopy

Spores are globular, densely warty, 5 - 6 microns in diameter, dark brown, warts up to length.

Basidia 13 - 23 × 5 - 8 μm, cylindrical, fusiform or clavate, with a buckle at the base.

Capilicia hyphae (1.5) 2 - 8 µm in diameter, thick-walled, sometimes with inlay.

Ecology and distribution

Substrate: Soil, litter

Grows singly and in small groups on a litter in deciduous, coniferous and mixed forests.

Schmidel's starman

Schmidel's starfish (lat.Geastrum schmidelii) is a fungus belonging to the Zvezdovikov family. It is considered a fairly rare, but widespread fungus. It has a peculiar star-like shape inherent in all mushrooms of this family. In scientific circles, it is called an earthen dwarf star.

This species belongs to mushrooms - saprotrophs that can successfully grow both on desert soil and on decaying woody forest debris.

The small-sized fruiting body of the fungus reaches eight centimeters in diameter. It has a hole at its apex and a relatively short stem. In unopened form, the young mushroom body has a rounded shape. The spore powder that appears during the period of active fruiting is brown in color. Fruiting mushroom bodies often overwinter successfully and persist until the next year.

At first glance at this mushroom, it is striking that Schmidel's starfish, as it were, sits on a star-shaped base surrounded by pointed petals.

Active peak fruiting falls on late summer and early autumn.

The favorite habitat of the starfish Schmidel is the soft soil and litter of mixed forests. Light sandy loam soil is considered especially suitable for growth. The distribution area of ​​the fungus includes the European part of Russia, Altai, vast Siberian forests.

The mushroom has a low nutritional value, but it is of increased interest for professional mushroom pickers only because of its rather unusual star-shaped shape.

This type of mushroom is considered conditionally edible. But it is better not to take it into use. Severe poisoning will not be received, but an upset of the body may occur. Schmidel's starfish does not have a pronounced taste and smell.

Starfire triple

• Family: Earth stars (Geastraceae).
• Synonyms: Earth star triple, earth star Indian.

Description. Starfish triple has a young fruit body, rounded, with a sharp nose, dirty brown color, up to 5 cm in height and 4 cm in diameter. Later, the outer layer breaks into 4-7 thick rays of isabella, terracotta or beige. When unfolded, the diameter of the fruiting body can reach 12 cm, and the height is 3-8 cm. The central part of the inner layer remains in the form of a characteristic collar under a spherical, sessile (without a leg) pale brown spore-receptacle. At the top of the latter, during maturation, a hole appears for the exit of spores. The pulp of the outer layer is soft, fragile, juicy; its outer layer is more dense, elastic, leathery. The spore mass, when ripe, is powdery, olive-brown.

The triple star fungus grows in deciduous and mixed forests, among fallen leaves and needles, often found in parks, squares, gardens. Recorded in the European part of Russia, southern Siberia, Primorsky Krai. Fruiting from August to late October.

Interesting Facts. Among the Blackfoot tribe (Indians of North America), the mushroom was called "ka-ka-toos", which meant "falling star" and, according to legend, the discovery of such mushrooms foreshadowed some supernatural events.

Similar species. In an adult state, the characteristic three-component structure of the fruiting body does not allow the triple starlet mushroom to be confused with any other earthen star.

Pharmacological and medical properties. A number of biologically active substances have been isolated from the fruit bodies of Geastrum triplex. Among them, mention should be made of fungal sterols such as ergosta-4,6,8, (14), 22-tetraene-3-ene, 5,6-dihydroergosterol, ergosterol and peroxyergosterol. Mushrooms also contain various fatty acids (myristic, palminic, stearic, oleic, α-linoleic, linoleic, etc.) that can be used for medicinal purposes.

Traditional and folk medicine. The triple earthen star was used for medical purposes by the Indians of North America. The Cherokee, for example, used the mushroom to heal the navel of newborns to the point of drying out and falling off the umbilical cord, both for prophylactic and therapeutic purposes.

In traditional Chinese medicine, G. triplex has been used to relieve redness (inflammation) in the airways, as well as to stop bleeding and shrink tumors.

Culinary recommendations. It is edible at a very young age, but at this moment it is quite difficult to find it, since the mushroom is almost completely submerged in the soil.

Appearance

The starlet mushroom has another name - "earthen asterisk", or "geastrum" (from Latin "geo" - earth and "aster" - star).

The main body of the eukaryote is underground, where a kind of sac is initially formed. In the process of ripening, it comes to the surface, where its upper outer part bursts, the ends are wrapped. In this form, the geastrum becomes like a star with 5-10 soft spongy rays.

Inside the outer shell, there is a spore-bearing part in the form of a ball or oval. After the destruction of the outer layer, the central part of the starfish rises, thereby protruding the inner part of the fruiting body.In the center, eyelash-like protrusions are formed, covering the opening - the entrance to the spore-bearing part of the fungus, covered with a thin shell. In this position, the fruiting body fully ripens, and the rays of the outer layer of the fungus age over time, darken, sometimes disappear.

The external characteristics of a star in terms of size depend on its type. On average, the unopened upper part of the geastrum is 1-4 cm in diameter, the open star-like part is 3-15 cm.The spore-bearing part in the form of a ball usually reaches 1.2 cm in width and 1.3 cm in height.

Irina Selyutina (Biologist):

Starfish belong to the group of gasteromycetes - fungi that are characterized by the complete isolation of their fruiting bodies until the moment of full maturation of basidiospores. These are the so-called angiocarpous fruiting bodies. Basidiospores not only form inside a completely closed fruiting body, but also separate from the basidia inside it. Therefore, this group of mushrooms is also called nutreviki. The release of basidiospores into the environment occurs when the membrane of the fruiting body is ruptured or destroyed.

Gasteromycetes are divided into groups according to the way of feeding:

1. Soil saprophytes: these include starfish (geastrum), flapworms, bigheads, etc.
2. Mycorrhiza formers: this group is very small; for example, scleroderma is included here.
3. Saprophytes on plant debris (dead wood, fallen trees): for example, nesting.
4. Parasites on the roots of higher plants: for example, parasitic rhizopogon.

Starfish mycelium is multicellular, highly branched; it is well developed and permeates the substrate in which it is immersed.

All parts of eukarite at a young age have light shades of gray, white, brown or red, again depending on the species. With aging, the color of the fruiting body darkens. Spores are brown or olive-gray.

Edible species

As a rule, the edible species of the representatives of the star family are used for culinary purposes exclusively in the form of an exotic additive (only young specimens are used for cooking), mainly due to their small number and, accordingly, little popularity among lovers of quiet hunting.

1. Vaulted starlet is a mushroom with an oblate spherical fruiting body located under the surface of the soil. The color of the fungus is more brown, the spore-bearing body is flattened, matte with a characteristic pale shade.
2. Schmidel's star - a feature of the species is that the fruit part of this type of edible mushroom is rather modest in size. During maturation, like in most related species, it rises. The spore-bearing ball rests on a low stalk with ciliate bordering at the apex. The color of the mushroom is brown, with growth it darkens significantly.

Varieties

The Zvezdovik family contains a number of edible and unsuitable for culinary purposes.

Edible

The vaulted starfish, or Geastrum fornicatum, is eaten.

The fruiting body is spherical. The shade is yellow-brown. Partially buried in soil. At the stage of maturity, it cracks into curling blades. The inner part is gray, at the stage of active fruiting it becomes chocolate.

Only young mushrooms are suitable for collection.

The pulp is light; as it grows, it coarsens and turns into a dark brown spore mass.

Suitable for use at a young age, as long as the mushroom retains its spherical appearance. It is used without preliminary heat treatment.

Conditionally edible

It has a low nutritional value, does not possess a pronounced smell and taste, a conditionally edible Schmidel variety, or Geastrum schmidelii.

The diameter of the fruiting body is up to 8 cm. The shape is initially round, in a mature mushroom it is stellate inherent in the family. The spore-bearing ball is crowned with a tapered tip.

Grows on desert soils and decayed wood residues in mixed forest areas. Fruiting in August.

Inedible

• Triple, or Geastrum triplex. The shape of young fruit bodies is rounded with a pointed tubercle, similar to a bulb.Height up to 5 cm, diameter up to 3.5 cm. In a mature mushroom, the body is revealed by a two-layer shell up to 12 cm wide. The shape of the inner center is in the form of a cupped collar under a flattened outer sessile shell. The color at the stage of full maturation is beige or terracotta. Spores are globular, brown in color. The structure of the outer pulp is compacted, leathery, the inner one is fragile and soft. Grows in deciduous and mixed forest belts. Grows in large groups of coniferous and leaf litter. Fruiting occurs at the end of summer and autumn.
• Striped, or Geastrum striatum. Young, bulbous fruiting bodies are located underground. As it matures, the mushroom shell bursts, dividing the mushroom into pointed blades and a head with a granular structure and a tapered striped tip. The color of an adult specimen is milky. The spores are brown. Grows on wilderness areas, decaying stumps and tree trunks in mixed forests, park areas. More often found under oak and ash trees. Fruiting from summer to autumn.
• Crowned, or Geastrum coronatum. The fruiting body is spherical. When cracked, it is divided into sharp-pointed gray blades with a matte sheen and a central spherical part of a brown tint. Spores are dark brown. Fruiting occurs in autumn. Occurs in gardens and park areas on sandy and clayey soils among grass.
• Fringed, or Geastrum fimbriatum. Initially, the shape of the fruiting body is spherical; at the stage of maturity, the three-layer dense shell breaks into a gray spore-bearing ball and yellow-brown star-like lobes, which twist when exiting the ground. Fruiting from the beginning of August. It grows on alkaline soils in coniferous and deciduous forests in large groups, often with witch's rings.
• Small, or Geastrum minimum. It differs from all in small size. The shape of the fruit body in young mushrooms is spherical. Diameter up to 1.8 cm, unfolded - up to 3.5 cm. Color gray with beige. The apex is crowned with a conical tubercle. The spores are brown. Grows on limestones in the steppe and forest edges.
• Black-headed, Geastrum melanocephalum. The shape of young mushrooms is spherical, pear-shaped or bulbous. Width up to 7 cm. Color from milky to brown. Star-shaped blades and a spore-bearing ball with a shaggy surface. Differs in complete exposure of the gleba when the inner shell is destroyed. The pulp is initially firm, becoming fibrous and powdery as it matures, the color is dark brown. Prefers humus soils. It grows in deciduous forest belts among maples and ash trees.
• Four-lobed, or Geastrum quadrifidum. The shape of the fruiting body is initially spherical, up to 2 cm in diameter, in adulthood - up to 5 cm. The peridium consists of 4 layers. The outer mycelium is whitish with a felt structure. Medium smooth, fibrous. Inner white, in a mature mushroom, it breaks into pointed lobes and a central part that is understood upwards. Gleb powdery color, black purple or brown. Grows on sandstones in pine, spruce and deciduous forests. Fruiting occurs in August-October.

Mushroom species

Starfish species are divided into 2 main groups. Some mushrooms are eaten at a young age, while others are not suitable for cooking. Old eukaryotes of any subspecies do not eat: they lose their attractiveness, become hard and tasteless, but they acquire other useful properties.

Inedible starfish species

Geastrooms are mostly non-edible, although they have interesting external features. They do not belong to poisonous mushrooms either. Inedible starfish are used in folk medicine. They have several types with their own characteristics:

• The triple star is somewhat different from its counterparts. It has a double layer of the outer shell of the bag, the upper part of which bursts into several unequal parts, and the inner part forms a bowl around the spore-bearing body.On the upper part of the spherical sac with spores, a belt typical of these fungi, called a courtyard, is rarely formed. The color of the mushroom body can become beige or light brown.
• The striped starfish has a significant difference from the representatives of its family: its mycelium does not hide underground, but comes out to the surface. As it matures, the body of the fungus spreads out long, creamy, star-shaped blades that crack and darken over time. The spore body has a small diameter, elongated shape, sits on a small thick stalk. It is gray in color, covered with a whitish coating, the tip at the apex is characterized by stripes.
• Crowned starfish has gray dull lobes on the outer shell of the mushroom body. The spore-bearing part rises on a thin, shortened stalk. The color of the ball is much darker than the star-like part of the geastrum, more like a brown tint.
• Fringed starfish partially reveals its fruiting body from the ground. The outer shell has a yellowish-brown tint, breaks into 5-7 lobes, which are strongly bent downward. The spore-bearing ball is gray in color and has a poorly defined courtyard.
• The little star is called the smallest representative of the geastrum family. The lobes of the upper layer of the mushroom body crack into 8-12 equal parts in the horizontal plane, then the mushroom body rises slightly. The color scheme of the star's petals is closer to beige-gray; over time, cracks appear with a lighter inner content. A spore-bearing gray ball becomes brown closer to ripening, the proboscis elongates at the apex.
• Black-headed starfish is a special subspecies. He looks a little different in maturity. When the mushroom body is still young, it resembles an ordinary light or slightly brownish raincoat. As it matures, the outer shell bursts into 5-8 parts, exposing the spore-bearing ball. The inner part of the star's rays and the top itself are covered with dark, often black, mature spores, which are immediately carried by wind and rain.
• The four-bladed starfish also raises the body above the ground during the ripening and opening of the petals of the star. The color of the outer layer is gray-white, and the spore-bearing ball is dark gray. A special feature of the eukaryote is a pronounced rim around the hole at the top of the ball - a courtyard.

Conditionally edible mushrooms

Young mushrooms from the geastrum family are eaten as an exotic supplement. They are few in number. At maturity, mushrooms cease to be edible.

One of the rarest is the vaulted starfish - a mushroom with a flattened or spherical underground body. When the top layer is divided, fragments of litter remain on the visible side of the blades, which create the appearance of cascades and canopies. The color of the outer part is brown, the spore-bearing ball is flattened, fawn, matte.

The second edible representative is the Schmidel star mushroom. The fruit body of this eukaryote is small, cracks and rises during the ripening period. The ball is located on a short stem and has large cilia around the spore hole. The entire Star is brown and darkens with aging.

Botanical characteristic

As it ripens, the outer shell of the fruiting body breaks, as a result of which the mushroom becomes similar to an asterisk, which has several spongy rays adjacent to the central part.Over time, the radial processes acquire a dark color and often disappear.

Geastrum quadrifidum

• Other names for the mushroom:
• Starfire four-bladed
• Geastrum four-bladed

Synonyms:

• Star wheel four-part
• Geastrum four-bladed
• Earth star four-bladed

Description
Fruiting bodies are initially closed, spherical, about 2 cm in diameter, covered with a peridium, along the entire surface of which mycelial strands are located; mature - open, 3-5 cm in diameter. Peridium is four-layer, consists of exoperidium and endoperidium. Exoperidium in the form of a bowl, three-layer or two-layer, hard, breaks from top to bottom to the middle into 4 unequal, pointed parts (lobes), bending down, and fruiting bodies rise up on the lobes, as on "legs". The outer mycelial layer is whitish, felt, covered with soil particles, soon disappears. The middle fibrous layer is white or isabella, smooth. The inner fleshy layer is white, also torn into 4 parts, with sharp ends resting on the sharp ends of the blades of the outer layer, soon disappears. The base is convex. The middle rises up together with the inner part of the fruiting body - the gleba. The spherical or oval (ovoid) glebe is covered with endoperidium, 0.9-1.3 cm high and 0.7-1.2 cm wide. At the base with a flattened leg, above which the endoperidium is narrowed and a well-visible rounded protrusion (apophysis) is formed, at the apex it opens with an opening, which is equipped with a low peristome. The peristome is conical, fibrous, with a sharply limited courtyard, smoothly fibrous-ciliate, around which there is a clear ring. The leg is cylindrical or slightly flattened, 1.5-2 mm height and 3 mm thick, whitish. The column is cotton-wool, light brown-gray in section, 4-6 mm long. Its exoperidium ruptures more often by 4, less often by 4-8 unequal pointed lobes, bending downward, which is why the entire fruiting body rises up on the lobes, as on legs.
The leg (in the traditional sense) is missing.
Gleba is powdery when ripe, black-purple to brown. Spores are brownish, light or dark brown.
When pressed, the spores fly in all directions. Spores are olive brown.

HABITAT AND GROWTH TIME
The four-part starfish grows mostly on sandy soil in deciduous, mixed and coniferous - pine, spruce, pine-spruce and spruce-deciduous forests (among fallen needles), sometimes in abandoned anthills - from August to October, rarely. Recorded in Russia (European part, Caucasus and Eastern Siberia), Europe and North America. We found it southeast of St. Petersburg in a mixed forest (birch and spruce) under an old spruce on needles in early October (the mushrooms grew as a family).

TWINS
The four-part starfish is very peculiar in appearance and is strikingly different from mushrooms of other genera and families. It is similar to other starfish, for example, to the Vaulted starfish (Geastrum fornicatum), whose exoperidium splits into two layers: the outer one with 4-5 short, obtuse lobes and the inner, convex in the center, also with 4-5 lobes; on Zvezdovik crowned (Geastrum coronatum) with leathery, smooth exoperidium, splitting into 7-10 gray-brown pointed blades; on Zvezdovik fringed (Geastrum fimbriatum) with exoperidium, which breaks up to half or 2/3 - into 5-10 (less often up to 15) unequal blades; on Zvezdovik striped (G. striatum) with exoperidium, bursting into 6-9 lobes, and light gray gleb; on the small Starfish Shmiela (G. schmidelii) with exoperidium, forming 5-8 lobes, and a gleba with a beak-shaped grooved striped nose; on Zvezdovik triple (Geastrum triplex) with a fibrous hole at the top of a gray-brown block.
It is confined to the soils of deciduous and coniferous forests.