Geastrales

Geastrum (earth stars) - click to expand

Species mentioned: Geastrum campestre, corollinum, coronatum, fimbriatum, floriforme, limbatum, minimum, pectinatum, quadrifidum, rufescens, saccatum, schmidelii, striatum, triplex, umbilicatum, bushnellii, fuscogleba, taylorii.

Geastrum 'saccatum PNW01' - collected as the EU species Geastrum saccatum, but as this DNA has not been found in Europe yet, it probably needs a new name. It seems to be inside a complex of G. saccatum-like species.

Geastrum 'saccatum PNW02' - this ITS sequence varies from an EU sequence purporting to be G. saccatum mostly in ITS2 only, not much in ITS1, so it may be very closely related to G. saccatum, or possibly even that species. I don't yet know how to tell it apart from PNW01.

Geastrum 'saccatum PNW01' © NAMA and the Field Museum of Natural History, Geastrum 'saccatum PNW02' © Shannon Adams

Other reported Geastrum - no local DNA yet. We need collections. In some cases, we do have type area ITS DNA to compare. MycoMatch has a table to help distinguish them.

Geastrum campestre NE -

Geastrum corollinum EU -

Geastrum coronatum EU -

Geastrum fimbriatum EU -

Geastrum floriforme EU -

Geastrum limbatum Costa Rica -

Geastrum minimum US (PA?) -

Geastrum pectinatum EU -

Geastrum quadrifidum EU -

Geastrum rufescens EU -

Geastrum striatum UK (=Geastrum schmidelii EU?, =Geastrum nanum EU?) -

Geastrum triplex complex Indonesia - the whole thing sits in a saucer (there are 3 layers of peridium instead of 2, where the outer layer opens up to form a saucer, the middle later splits into stars and the inner layer holds the spores). A study of this complex showed 6 clades of collections identified as this, but there were no WNA sequences to find out which ones occur here. They were not able to determine for sure which is the real one, but they speculate which one it may be.

Geastrum umbilicatum EU - a poorly known species probably a newer synonym of something else, but it is not agreed as to what, perhaps Geastrum elegans EU or Geastrum striatum EU.

Trufflized Species

Geastrum fuscoglebum OR (=Radiigera fuscogleba OR) - a trufflized Geastrum, growing at least partially underground with a thick rind, false columella, and outer layer that will not break into star-like rays. The gleba is dark yellow- to olive-brown when mature, unlike the black gleba of the similar Schenella simplex, below. This species also has a felty outer surface that usually has debris sticking to it. It has round, spiny spores. Note that immature collections with a white gleba could possibly be young, unopened, epigeus (non-truffle) species. Only if it was found underground, or if the gleba is dark and mature can you be sure that the earth star was not going to open and is one of the trufflized species. We have some WA, OR and NY sequences of this species, but no sequenced photos of mature specimens.

Geastrum bushnellii OR - a smaller (~2 cm across) lookalike of G. fuscoglebum with smaller spores (most <5u wide). We don't have any reliable sequences yet.

Geastrum taylorii CA - with a smoother outer surface not usually susceptible to debris sticking to it, with the smallest spores of all three (<4u wide). We don't have any reliable sequences yet.

immature Geastrum fuscoglebum (white gleba) © Leah Bendlin

Sphaerobolus (cannon fungi) - click to expand

Species mentioned: Sphaerobolus stellatus, iowensis

Sphaerobolus stellatus EU - a 2005 study showed that the east coast species S. iowensis is more common in NA, but S. stellatus appears here too, sequenced from WA.

Sphaerobolus iowensis IA - one short ITS2 sequence from BC is of S. iowensis. They are difficult to differentiate, even microscopically.

Schenella (false truffles) - click to expand

Species mentioned: Schenella pityophilus, simplex.

Schenella PNW01 - a false columella and presumably with radiating peridioles inside the gleba looking like seeds inside a fruit, because this species was mistaken for Schenella pityophilus, an EU species. Found twice in OR.

Schenella PNW02 - we appear to have more than one species with radiating peridioles, but I don't yet know how to differentiate them outside of DNA. Found once in OR.

Schenella pityophilus EU - DNA from the EU, where it may be a species complex, doesn't yet match any DNA found in the PNW, so there is not yet any genetic evidence of S. pityophilus in the PNW.

Schenella simplex MX (=Radiigera atrogleba ID?) - with a sticky black mature gleba that has a radiating pattern and a false columella, but no conspicuous seed-like peridioles inside. Trufflized species of Geastrum do not become pure black inside. These two species of Schenella have been synonymized but we do not have sequences from Mexico and Idaho to prove they are the same species. If not, we will have to rename Radiigera atrogleba to Schenella atrogleba. We have one CA sequence that may represent this. We need more sequences.