''Geastrum britannicum'' is a fungal

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Geastraceae Geastrales is an order of gasterocarpic basidiomycetes (fungi) that are related to Gomphales. The order contains the families Geastraceae, which includes the "earthstars" formerly placed in Lycoperdales or Phallales, and also Schenellaceae, Sc ...

. Its recommended English name is vaulted earthstar. Like other earthstars, the

basidiocarp In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome, or basidioma () is the sporocarp of a basidiomycete, the multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are characteristic of the hymenomycetes; rusts and smuts do no ...

s (fruit bodies) are initially globose. Their thick outer skin splits open at maturity to expose the puffball-like spore sac surrounded by the split rays of the outer skin. In the vaulted earthstar, the rays split apart and form an arch, raising the spore sac upwards.

Taxonomy

''Geastrum britannicum'' was described in 2015 from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

by Spanish

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

Juan Carlos Zamora, based on a

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

found on a roadside verge in Cockley Cley under pine trees in 2000 by Jonathan Revett, with

paratype In zoology and botany, a paratype is a specimen of an organism that helps define what the scientific name of a species and other taxon actually represents, but it is not the holotype (and in botany is also neither an isotype (biology), isotype ...

s from

New Milton New Milton is a market town and civil parish in the New Forest District, New Forest district, in southwest Hampshire, England. To the north is in the New Forest and to the south the coast at Barton-on-Sea. The town is equidistant between Lymi ...

and

Surlingham Surlingham is a village and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk situated on the Broads in eastern United Kingdom. It lies approximately 6½ miles (10½ km) south-east of Norwich on the south bank of the River Yare between Bra ...

. The species was already the subject of research at the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...

, where more than a dozen additional collections had been studied from England and Wales, the earliest dating back to 1994. The new species had previously been confused with '' G. quadrifidum'' and '' G. fornicatum'', both of which have a similar vaulted or arched appearance. ''Geastrum britannicum'' was distinguished on the basis of morphology and

DNA sequence A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases within the nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. This succession is denoted by a series of a set of five different letters that indicate the order of the nu ...

analysis.

Distribution

The fungus has proved to be very widespread in England and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It was more recently found in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. Since the species is not known to have occurred in Europe before 1994, it may be a recent arrival.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q19787362 britannicum Fungi of Europe Fungi described in 2015 Fungus species