FungiFriday - Puff

This was quite an unexpected find.
I was walking around woods and paths that I used to know very well. But years changed them, and even though I knew exactly where I was, it all looked different. Eventually, I reached a point where a very old shooting ground is. It is all abandoned and taken over by the forest. Lots of bushes, young trees.... generally a terrible mess. The only thing that is left is a brick wall and a long canal. I went to check on it, and there they were :)

Geastrum

The name, which comes from geo meaning earth and aster meaning star, refers to the behavior of the outer peridium. At maturity, the outer layer of the fruiting body splits into segments which turn outward creating a star-like pattern on the ground. The inner peridium is called a spore sac. In some species, the outer peridium splits from a middle layer, causing the spore sac to arch off the ground. If the outer peridium opens when wet and closes when dry, it is described as hygroscopic.
_Source

This is the first time I actually found the Earthstars in Poland. I have seen them before in Portugal, but they were smaller and the star shape was more pronounced. The difference could be due to a different climate or it was a different species.

In Portugal, they were growing almost on pure sand and in a quite open area. In Poland it was all shaded with some gentle dappled sun, and the soil is more rich there too. So yea... they grew well :)

There were about 15 of them around. Bigger and smaller, but all looked like little flowers. The large ones were very mature, with the little open volcano on top. With a slight touch, they were puffing grey smoke (not smoke, but millions of spores, actually).

I am not even gonna try to figure out which exactly it is. In the link above to Wikipedia you have a huge list of all the species.

Can you see the Wolf spider*?
Plenty of them around too.

Bonus shot:
Aliens made sure we know they were there :)

How to join #FungiFriday:

• when Friday comes (UTC time) post your own, original photo/drawing/art/food/anything-at-all of any type of fungi (yes, I will check and report stolen images or text!)
• add #FungiFriday tag (it doesn't have to be your first tag)
• Include "My contribution to #FungiFriday by @ewkaw" anywhere in your post.

Happy FungiFriday!

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_{Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
All photos, graphics and text are my own.}