Small star (Geastrum minimum)
Systematics:- Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Phallomycetidae (Veselkovye)
- Order: Geastrales
- Family: Geastraceae (Geastric or Starfish)
- Genus: Geastrum (Geastrum or Zvezdovik)
- View: Geastrum minimum (Small star)
or
Small star
The fruit body develops underground, at first it is spherical, 0.3-1.8 cm in diameter, the outer shell opens into 6-12 (usually 8) rays, reaching 1.5-3 (5) cm in width, first horizontally, then several lifting the fruiting body, the gap between it and the soil is usually filled with mycelium. The surface of the rays is gray-beige, cracking over time and revealing a lighter inner layer. At the top there is a hole with a tapered proboscis.
Mature gleba is brown, powdery.
Spores are globular, brown, warty, 5.5-6.5 microns
It grows on calcareous soils along the edges of forests, forest glades, and also in the steppes.
Inedible mushroom
It differs from other species in small size, crystalline coating of endoperidium and smooth periosteum.