Kingdom Fungi Subclass Phallomycetidae Family Geastraceae Higher classification Geastrum | Division Basidiomycota Order Geastrales Genus Geastrum Rank Species | |
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Similar Geastrum, Geastrales, Geastrum fornicatum, Geastrum quadrifidum, Geastrum pectinatum | ||
Geastrum britannicum is an inedible fungus from the family Geastraceae, whose fruit body resembles a man figure. The specific epithet britannicum reflects the fact that the fungus is found only in Great Britain.
Taxonomy
Geastrum britannicum was first spotted on a roadside verge in Cockley Cley under pine trees in 2000 by Jonathan Revett. At the time, the species was believed to be merely a variant of Geastrum quadrifidum, which is only slightly different in appearance. In 2015, the fungus was finally described as a new species by Juan Carlos Zamora on the basis of morphology and DNA sequence analysis.
References
Geastrum britannicum Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA