• ABOUT
  • BIRDING 2018
  • Birding 2019
  • BLOG POSTS
  • Butterflies 2018
  • Resources

earthstar

~ a celebration of nature

earthstar

Tag Archives: Artillery fungus

Shooting stars

14 Friday Jan 2022

Posted by sconzani in fungi

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Artillery fungus, British fungi, Cannonball fungus, Shooting star fungus, Shotgun fungus, Sphaerobolus stellatus

This was a first for me, an amazing cluster of fungi within inches of the Common bird’s nest fungi I blogged about yesterday. Variously named ‘Shooting star’, ‘Shotgun’, Artillery’ and ‘Cannonball’ fungus, Sphaerobolus stellatus gets its name from the way it shoots out its spores, apparently with a popping sound that you can actually hear and at a force that sends them flying up to 6 metres.

220114 shooting star (1)

I haven’t been able to find a lot of information about this fungus except for the Wikipedia entry on the genus Sphaerobolus, which looks reliable and includes some of the more technical details of its eruptive system, if you’re interested in the nitty gritty. I’m planning to return when it’s drier for another look and to get better photos.

220114 shooting star (2)
220114 shooting star (3)

Like this:

Like Loading...

About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

View Full Profile →

Follow earthstar on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent blog posts

  • Woodlouse: Porcellio spinicornis February 2, 2023
  • Song vs Mistle February 1, 2023
  • Song thrushes are a’singing January 31, 2023
  • Down the hatch January 30, 2023
  • First Primroses January 29, 2023

From the archives

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

COPYRIGHT

Unless otherwise acknowledged, the text and photographs on this blog are my own and are subject to international copyright. Nothing may be downloaded or copied without my permission.

Fellow Earth Stars!

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • earthstar
    • Join 578 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • earthstar
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.

    %d bloggers like this: