Central Texas Mycological Society 2/10/25 Central Texas Mycological Society 2/10/25

February Mushroom of the Month: Many-rooted Earthball, Scleroderma polyrhizum

The February of the Month is the Many-rooted earthball, Scleroderma polyrhizum

🍄⭐The February mushroom of the month is the Many-rooted Earthball, Scleroderma polyrhizum.

🙌 to Mike Ryon for correctly identifying this mushroom and the newest member of the society.

You can also be a supporting member to stay dialed-in with events & discover next month’s mystery mushroom.

What is that?

Dead Man's Hand, Earthstar Scleroderma, Many-rooted Earthball are all common names for Scleroderma polyrhizum, a basidiomycete fungus and a member of the genus Scleroderma, or "earthballs". They don’t really look like a typical mushroom, and many find themselves scratching their heads when first encountering one, trying to figure out what exactly it is. When they first emerge from the ground, they look like a rock. When they finally open, they look like a melted/rotten Reese’s peanut butter cup.

Taxonomy & Ecology

Found in dry, sandy soils, this species begins completely buried before slowly forcing the soil aside as it cracks apart to form a rough, star-shaped body with a diameter of 12–15 cm (4.7–5.9 in). When unopened, the fruit body ranges in shape from round to flattened to somewhat irregular, sometimes with lobes. At the center is a dark, brownish spore mass. Many- rooted earthballs are widely distributed across Asia, Europe and the America’s wherever soil and climate is favorable.

are they edible?

It will likely come as no surprise that these mushrooms are not edible. Not only do they look icky, they contain toxins which can cause some serious gastric discomfort. However, Scleroderma polyrhizum fruit bodies have been used in Traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of treatment of detumescence and hemostasis. Future research may reveal more uses for this fascinating fungi.

BECOME A SUPPORTING MEMBER & stay Dialed in with events & discover next month’s mystery mushroom

Central Texas Mycological Society 1/31/25 Central Texas Mycological Society 1/31/25

How Find the Texas Star Mushroom

By following these steps, you can increase your chances of finding our elusive and fascinating official state mushroom. Happy hunting!

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Also know as Devil’s Cigar, Kirinomitake, Chorioactis geaster

By following these steps, you can increase your chances of finding our elusive and fascinating state mushroom. Happy hunting!

Step 1: Understand the Ecoregion

Geographic Range: The Texas Star Mushroom is primarily found in Central Texas, with sightings reported as far south as San Antonio and as far north as the Oklahoma border in Choctaw County. It has also been observed in Wharton County near Houston.

Ecoregion: Focus on areas within the Central Texas ecoregion, particularly those with a mix of woodlands and open spaces. The mushroom is often found in areas with dead or decaying cedar elm trees.

Step 2: Identify the Right Habitat

Tree Association: Look for dead cedar elm stumps in forests where they grow. Identify cedar elm (Ulmus crassifolia) by its small, rough, serrated leaves with a sandpapery feel, corky ridged bark, and compact form. In fall, its leaves turn orange and fall after the first frost. Decomposing stumps appear as black, hollow crowns with jagged edges due to fungal decay. Search for these stumps and examine their edges and roots for cigar or star-like formations.

Season: The mushroom typically fruits from late fall into early spring after rains. Plan your search during these months for the best chance of finding it.

Step 3: Visit Known Locations

State Parks: Check out Inks Lake State Park and McKinney Falls State Park, where the mushroom has been observed.

City of Austin Parks: Zilker Botanical Garden, Shoal Creek Greenbelt, Southeast Metro Park, and the Barton Creek Greenbelt are hotspots.

Other Locations: Brushy Creek in Cedar Park, Meadow Center and Purgatory Creek in San Marcos, Landa Park in New Braunfels, and McAllister and Olmos Park in San Antonio.

Step 4: Look for Specific Features

Initial Appearance: When the mushroom initially fruits it resembles a dark brown cigar with a long stem connected to the cedar elm roots or stump.

Dehiscence: When the mushroom detects a change in humidity it splits open radially into a star-like arrangement of three to eight leathery rays. When the mushroom detects the wind it releases of a smoky cloud of spores accompanied by a hissing sound.

Step 5: Listen and Observe

Hissing Sound: The hissing sound is a unique feature of the Texas Star Mushroom. Only a few mushrooms are known to create an audible sound when spores are released. It sounds like a fizzing noise, like the bursting of bubbles in a glass of soda. Be very quiet!

Spore Release: Look for the release of spores, which can be seen as a smoky cloud. This happens after the mushroom splits open and there are multiple spore releases over a few days until the mushroom get eaten by insects and wildlife.

Step 6: Document Your Findings

Photographs: Take clear photographs of the mushroom, noting its stage of development (closed cigar shape or open star shape).

Location Data: Record the exact location where you found the mushroom. Use GPS coordinates if possible.

Share Observations: Consider sharing your findings on platforms like iNaturalist or Mushroom Observer to contribute to community science efforts and help others find them.

Step 7: Respect the Environment

Leave No Trace: Avoid disturbing the habitat. Do not remove the mushrooms or damage the surrounding area.

Follow Regulations: Ensure you have any necessary permits if you are collecting samples for scientific purposes.

Step 8: Join a Community

Central Texas Mycological Society (CTMS): Join local mycological societies or groups like CTMS to connect with other enthusiasts and participate in organized forays.

Online Resources: Utilize online resources to learn more about the Texas Star Mushroom and share your experiences.

Tag us with your photos on social media and add your observations to iNaturalist.org

Videos of the Texas Star Mushroom

Angel Schatz 1/31/25 Angel Schatz 1/31/25

February Foraging Forecast

Learn wild, edible mushrooms fruiting in Texas after rain.

TAKE ONLINE FORAGING CLASS

Comes with download of a Wild Edible Mushroom Calendar.

Wood Blewit Collybia species, formerly Lepista, Clitocybe

Description: Lilac to purple-pink. Gills are attached to short, stout stem with bulbous base.

Habitat: Grows in and decomposes leaf duff

Size: 3-6" cap diamter Spore Color: Light pink to white

Edibility: Good. Try in breakfast tacos

Look-alikes: Purple webcaps in the Cortinarius genus can be toxic and grow in same habitat. Spore print is rust colored.

Lion’s Mane, Hericium erinaceus

Lion’s mane is a choice edible mushroom that rarely grows in the wild in Central Texas. I have foraged it a few times and it fruits on the cankers of post oaks in Central Texas. It is more abundant in East Texas on decaying oaks.

DESCRIPTION: Tooth fungus, fuzzy and turns yellow as it ages.

HABITAT: Fruits on decomposing hardwood or heartwood or cankers of living post oak in the winter after rain. SPORE COLOR: White

SIZE: 4-12"+ h & w

EDIBILITY: Mildly sweet flavor, tender texture that mimics shellfish like scallops, crab, or lobster. Medicinal

LOOK A-LIKE: Hericium americanum, Bear's Head Tooth & Hericium Coralloides, Coral Tooth (Edible). Marshmallow polypore, Irpiciporus pachyodon (Inedible)

MEDICINAL BENEFITS

Not only does this mushroom taste delicious, it’s good for you. Lion’s mane mushrooms contain bioactive substances that have beneficial effects on the body, especially the brain, heart and gut. Scientific studies have found this mushroom may:

✨ Reduce Inflammation
✨ Relieve Depression and Anxiety
✨ Protect against dementia and Alzheimer's
✨ Protect Against Ulcers in the Digestive Tract
✨ Reduce Heart Disease Risk
✨ Help Manage Diabetes Symptoms
✨ Cancer Fighting Properties

Where to Buy

It is also cultivated by several local mushroom farms and available at farmers markets and groceries stores. You can also pick them up at various locations in Central Texas with our mushroom block giveaway program and get a second fruiting in the cool winter months.

Hi-Fi Myco and Cap City Shrooms at farmers markets and Central Market
SmallHold at Central Market, Whole Foods

Go here for a complete list of Texas mushroom companies.

OYSTER: Pleurotus ostreatus

DESCRIPTION: Color can vary white, tan and gray.White to cream gills, run down stem.

HABITAT: Grows in clusters and decomposes hardwood.

SPORE COLOR: White

SIZE: Cap fan shaped, 2"-8" across.

EDIBILITY: Choice. Delicious meat replacement in all types of cuisines

LOOK A-LIKE: The Southern Jack-o-lantern, Omphalotus subilludens is the toxic look-a-like and is orange to brown in color. They do grow at the same time but their habitat and morphology is different.

Ringless Honey Mushroom: Desarmillaria & ArmillariA Species

Ringless Honey Mushroom, Desarmillaria caespitosa will start been popping up all over Austin in large clusters at the bases of trees (when the clusters appear to be terrestrial they are actually growing from underground wood) in late summer and fall. This parasitic fungus is part of a genus that is the largest living organism ever found on this planet.

Description: Honey-colored, dry, scaly to sticky cap. Mellea species has a ring on the stem. Gills, some species have a ring.

Habitat: Grows in clusters on decaying hard-wood.

Spore Color: White

Size: 6" in Height

Edibility: Not Choice.

Look-alikes: Southern Jack-o-lantern, Omphalotus subilludens which is toxic and orange to brown in color.

REISHI: Ganoderma, 12 species in Texas

DESCRIPTION: Polypore with woody, varnished texture, banded red to brown colors with white pores on underside.

HABITAT: Grows at base or on hardwood stumps, logs, especially oaks and pecan. Pines in East Texas.

SPORE COLOR: Brown

SIZE: 4-10" width

EDIBILITY: Medicinal. Very bitter because of medicinal compounds.

LOOK-ALIKES: Red-Belted Conk, Fomitosis Pinicola (also medicinal).

Witches Butter. Tremella mesenterica

Description: Bright yellow, parasitic jelly fungus

Habitat: Found on angiosperm bark and feeds on wood-decay fungi in the genus Peniophora consuming them as it grows.

Spore Color: White to Yellow Size: up to 3"

Edibility: Edible and flavorless. Studies suggest antitumor, antioxidative, and antiallergenic. Candied witch’s butter, resembling sour gummy candy, is a delightful treat packed with health benefits.

Look a-likes: Golden Ear or Tremella aurantia, Orange jelly or Dacrymyces palmatus and Fan-shaped Jelly Fungus or Dacryopinax spathularia are all edible.

WOOD EAR: Auricularia 6+- species in Texas

DESCRIPTION: Brown to amber in color. Jelly texture that is irregular, wavy, and ear-shaped. Lacks gills or pores.

HABITAT: Grows in clusters on decaying hardwood after rain

SPORE COLOR: White

SIZE: 4-6" in width and > 1/4" thick

EDIBILITY: Wood ear mushrooms are a popular ingredient in many Chinese dishes, such as hot and sour soup, and also used in Chinese medicine. It is also used in Ghana, as a blood tonic. Modern research into possible medical applications has variously concluded that wood ear has anti-tumor, hypoglycemic, anticoagulant and cholesterol-lowering properties.

LOOK-ALIKES: Amber Jelly, Exidia recisa which is also edible.

Puffball: Lycoperdon and *Calvatia, 15+- species in Texas***

DESCRIPTION: Smooth and spherical, deflate and turn purplish or brown on inside with age making inedible. Some peal and have spines.

HABITAT: Overgrazed Prairie or grasslands.

SPORE COLOR: Purple-brown

SIZE: 2- 60" diameter

EDIBILITY: Doesn’t have a strong flavor of its own and absorb flavors. Try making a Giant Puffball Pizza.

LOOK-ALIKES: Amanita species which can contain toxins and be fatal. If center of puffball is not white, it can cause GI distress.

TURKEY TAIL Trametes versicolor

DESCRIPTION: Variable coloration, distinct striping pattern. No gills, pores are small and round, white to light brown

HABITAT: Grows in overlapping clusters on logs and stumps

SPORE COLOR: White

SIZE: Cap fan shaped, 2"-8" across.

EDIBILITY: Medicinal. Tough, leathery flesh. Can be brewed into a tea, broth, or extracted into a tincture.

LOOK A-LIKE: False turkey tail. or Stereum ostrea and is non-toxic. Mushroom Expert has a useful check list to determine if it is true medicinal turkey tail.

Become a member and learn more about wild mushroom foraging in Texas!

Membership benefits include early access and discounts to walks, workshops, and more. Your membership helps support the larger community! Tag us to get help with ID and add your observations to iNaturalist.org. If you are trying a new mushroom, confirm the ID with an expert, then try a small amount to make sure you don't have an allergic reaction. Texas Mushroom Identification Facebook group is great for quick responses and ID help. Also, don't forget to add your finds on the Mushrooms of Texas project on iNaturalist.

Follow my adventures @forage.atx.

Central Texas Mycological Society 1/13/25 Central Texas Mycological Society 1/13/25

January Mushroom of the Month: Mulch Maids, Leratiomyces percevalii

The January of the Month for November is the Mulch Maid, Leratiomyces percevalii

🍄⭐The January mushroom of the month is the Mulch Maid, Leratiomyces percevalli.

🙌 to Scott for naming that mushroom correctly and becoming the newest member of Central Texas Mycology!

You can also be a supporting member to stay dialed-in with events & discover next month’s mystery mushroom.

What’s that growing in my mulch pile?

Leratiomyces percevalii, commonly known as Mulch Maids, are a common companion of mulch piles, waste places, grassy areas, and woodchips. Growing throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia, these saprobic mushrooms are small but mighty decomposers. It is unclear whether these mushrooms are natives of north America or more recent immigrants. However, their benefit to our ecosystems is undeniable.

How to ID mulch maids

Cap - 2.5-8 cm; convex to broadly convex or broadly bell-shaped; sticky when fresh but soon dry; honey yellow when young, quickly becoming yellowish, whitish, or dingy olive; smooth or finely hairy in places; the margin adorned with hanging white partial veil remnants, especially when young.

Gills - Attached to the stem or beginning run down it; close; whitish at first, becoming purplish gray to purple-black.

Stem - 4-13 cm long; up to about 1 cm thick; equal or tapered to base; dry; with a ring zone that darkens with falling spores; finely hairy; whitish, developing reddish brown discolorations from the base upwards; base usually hairy, with prominent mycelial threads.

Flesh: Whitish.

Spore Print - Dark purple-brown to blackish.