About this fungus
Sessile Earthstar is a fungus in the Geastraceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A pale woodland earthstar whose round spore sac sits directly on five to ten spreading rays with no stalk or collar.
What to check
Confirm a sessile spore sac and a fibrous or fringed mouth that blends gradually into the sac rather than sitting inside a sharply defined disc. There are no gills, ring or volva.
Variation
Fresh rays and sac are cream to buff; the sac becomes grey-brown and papery with age. Unopened fruit bodies are buried balls and cannot be identified confidently until they expand.
Lookalikes
Rounded Earthstar has a distinctly bounded mouth disc. Collared Earthstar is larger and usually develops a separate collar beneath the spore sac. Weathering can obscure both characters, so mature intact specimens are most useful.
Habitat and range
Saprotrophic in deep leaf litter and humus in broadleaved, mixed and coniferous woodland, sometimes in arcs or small groups. It is widespread across northern temperate regions.
Food safety
Inedible.
Photographs
Björn S. / CC BY-SA 2.0