Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: P1330295 FZ18

I found several of these absolutely fascinating Earth Stars in a cluster at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park early in September. They were not attached to anything, but were sitting on top of loose leaf matter. These ones had no "neck". "The Earth Star is a striking soil fungus, so named because the outer wall of the spore-bearing body splits open into a star. One metaphor refers to the rays standing on their tips, like a ballet dancer standing on their toes. Like other earthstars, the outer, leathery wall (peridium) splits open into the rays of a star, but the rays fold down into "legs" that support the spherical spore case that sits on a short stalk or pedicel. The rays are firmly attached to a clump of mycelium and leaf debris." From "The Amazing Fungi " website.