Astraeus hygrometricus
Astraeus hygrometricus is a species of fungus in the family Diplocystaceae. Young specimens resemble a puffball when unopened. In maturity, the mushroom displays the characteristic earthstar shape. The species was first described by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon in 1801. It is not related to the true earthstars of genus Geastrum.
About Astraeus hygrometricus in brief
Astraeus hygrometricus is a species of fungus in the family Diplocystaceae. Young specimens resemble a puffball when unopened. In maturity, the mushroom displays the characteristic earthstar shape that is a result of the outer layer of fruit body tissue splitting open in a star-like manner. The species was first described by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon in 1801. It is not related to the true earthstars of genus Geastrum, although historically, they have been taxonomically confused. Some authorities in the following decades continued to classify the species inGeastrum. The New-Zealand based mycologist Gordon Herriot Cunningham explicitly transferred the species back to the genus geastrum in 1944. According to the taxonomical authority MycoBank, Astraeus is a distinct genus, which may be separated from Geastrums by the taxonomic authority MystracoBank. A. hygrometricalus was previously thought to have a cosmopolitan distribution, though it is now thought to be restricted to Southern Europe. Research has revealed the presence of several bioactive chemical compounds in Astra Zeus fruit bodies. North American field guides typically rate A. Hygromanticus as inedible. In 2013, North American populations were divided into A. pteridis, A. morganii, and A. smithii on the basis of molecular phylogentics. The spores are reddish-brown, roughly spherical with minute warts, measuring 7. 5–11 micrometers in diameter. The rays have an irregularly cracked surface, while the spore case is pale brown and smooth with an irregular slit or tear at the top.
The gleba is white initially, but turns brown and powdery when the spores mature. The only feature of those outlined in which the species differs from others is the somewhat primitive hymenium. In the developing plant, the cavities are separated by tramal plates so that the developing plants are not overlooked by the uncritical worker. Each cavity is filled with basidia somewhat irregularly arranged in clusters and not definite in the palisade. This difference disappears as maturity reaches, when the plants resemble closely the fructification of any other member of the genus Astrastraeus. In 1885, Andrew P. Morgan proposed that differences in microscopic characteristics warranted the creation of a new genus Astaeus. This opinion was not universally accepted by later authorities. Despite a similar overall appearance, the species differed from those of Geastrus in not having open chambers in the young gleba, having larger and branched capillitium threads, not having a true hymanium, and having larger spores. In. the 2000s, several Asian populations were renamed in a phylogenetic analyses revealed they were unique Astraaeus species, including A.asiaticus and A odoratus. This research suggests that the type specimen of A. hyrmetricus originates in a population restricted to Europe between Southern France and Turkey, with telleriae found nearby in Spain and Greece.
You want to know more about Astraeus hygrometricus?
This page is based on the article Astraeus hygrometricus published in Wikipedia (as of Oct. 29, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
