Sunday, 1 July 2012

Macro Monday - Earth Stars

These strange looking things are Earth Stars – they are the fruiting body of a type of mushroom.  You can clearly see why they have gained their common name.
When they first appear they look like puff-balls, but then the outer “skin” splits and folds back to make the star shape. The central mass contains the spores, and these escape through the central hole as the wind blows – or more dramatically when rain drops crash into it. 
So, all in all they are a little more interesting than the mushrooms we slice and put on pizza!
You can find more macro shots here at Macro Monday.

You can find the latest post to my other blog by clicking on the Paying Ready Attention image on the RHS of the pages.
Enjoy the close ups!
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16 comments:

  1. Unknown1 July 2012 at 17:29

    Vivo no campo e nunca vi este tipo de cogumelos.
    Irei estar atento e ver se os descubro por aí.

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  2. Fun601 July 2012 at 18:02

    I've never seen anything like these fungi before. Are they edible or do you need to give them a wide berth?

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  3. Brian King1 July 2012 at 18:07

    Oh, wow, that's cool! I never would have guessed those were mushrooms.

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  4. Sylvia K2 July 2012 at 07:38

    What interesting captures for the day, Stewart! I've never seen anything like these either! Great macros for the day!

    Sylvia

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  5. Andrea2 July 2012 at 11:13

    Wow Stewart, these are amazing, i haven't seen it. They look like the flower of one of our plants, Amorphophallus sp, that emits very bad odor for pollination. Another plant which looks like this is Rafflesia, known to be the biggest flower. We have it but i haven't seen it too. By the way, can this mushroom be eaten too?

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  6. Kateri2 July 2012 at 12:29

    I had never seen these before moving to our current property. They grow in the woods here. Yours look like they are growing in the gravel/sand? Looks like a very different environment. Here is a link to two photos of what we have. http://dandelionhaven.blogspot.com/2010/09/earth-star.html

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  7. January Zelene2 July 2012 at 12:30

    Lovely captures! :)

    Orange Zinnia

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  8. Kateri2 July 2012 at 12:30

    (and I do intend to check out your other blog soon!)

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  9. Karen @ Pieces of Contentment2 July 2012 at 21:34

    I've not seen these before, very interesting. you must have been tempted to turn a hose onto them to watch the spores blow out.

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  10. Birgitta2 July 2012 at 23:08

    Very interesting and special photos! Great capture!

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  11. rainfield612 July 2012 at 23:39

    I love macro photography.

    I love shooting mushrooms.

    Yours is a great find.

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  12. Karen3 July 2012 at 02:55

    Cool, I've never seen these! Great detail in your pics, I like the gravel bits!

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  13. joanne3 July 2012 at 03:05

    I have seen many 'shrooms, but never an earth star....nice capture

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  14. joanne3 July 2012 at 03:05

    I have seen many 'shrooms, but never an earth star....nice capture

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  15. Pat Tillett3 July 2012 at 12:48

    Wow! I've never seen nor heard of these things. Very interesting! Nice photos, they really do like "earth" stars!

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  16. Unknown3 July 2012 at 17:02

    Interesting mushrooms. Beautiful shape!

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