''Geastrum britannicum'' is a fungal

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Geastraceae Geastrales is an order of gasterocarpic basidiomycetes (fungi) that are related to Cantharellales. The order contains the single family Geastraceae, commonly known as "earthstars", which older classifications had placed in Lycoperdales, or ...

. 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 n ...

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 by Spanish

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as w ...

Juan Carlos Zamora, based on a

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

found on a roadside verge in

Cockley Cley Cockley Cley is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village covers an area of and falls within the district of Breckland. History The village's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for a ...

under pine trees in 2000 by Jonathan Revett, with

paratypes 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 nor a syntype). O ...

from

New Milton New Milton is a market town 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 Lymington and Christchurch, 6 miles (10 km) away. History N ...

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 Bram ...

. 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 '' Geastrum 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 DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...

analysis.

Distribution

The fungus has proved to be surprisingly widespread in England and Wales. It has also recently been found in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Since the species is not known to have occurred in Europe before 1994, it has been suggested that it may be a recent arrival that originated elsewhere.

References

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