The Rarest of the Rare: The Texas Star (aka Devil's Cigar)

The Texas star--or devil's cigar-- (Chorioactis geaster), is among the world's rarest and most spectacular fungi. It is found only on the Japanese island of Kyushu and in 6-7 Texas counties between Seguin and Fort Worth. The common name "devil's cigar" is from the fact the fruiting body emerges from the soil looking very much like a cigar. After it opens into a star, it periodically emits white clouds of spores that resemble smoke. It is among a dozen or so species of fungi that produce a sound while releasing their spores. The specimens shown here appeared during December 2007 and show some damage from hungry insects and animals. No specimens appeared during the winter of 2008-09 due to the severe drought.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Forrest
• Mims
• mushroom
• fungus
• fungi
• Chorioactis
• geaster
• devil's
• cigar
• Texas
• star
• Kyushu
• rare

[45Renegade]

They hiss as the release the spores. So whenever they start blooming like that I guess they hiss.

[garrett4246]

how do you get them to hiss?