Sessile Earthstar

Geastrum fimbriatum

Deciduous forests, parks, under spruces, on rotten needles. Summer, autumn.

Fruiting bodies globose, about 2–3 cm, when old they split and expand to 4–8 cm across, ochre, yellowish-brown. The exoperidium is leathery, firm, splitting from the top to halfway into 6-8 rays, which curl downwards like legs and form a shallow bowl holding the endoperidium, a round body 1–2 cm across with an opening at the top for scattering spores. Grows in coniferous and deciduous forests, parks, and in gardens under lilacs, favouring calcareous soil. Common. Inedible. Interesting fungi; so far 13 species of earthstars are known in Lithuania – some like spiders ready to scuttle off, and others, on the contrary, like faded, dried, withered orchids.