10 Wednesday Dec 2025
Posted in fungi
I just checked – I haven’t posted any photos of earthstars since December 2023. As they were the inspiration for the name of this blog (though the name is also meant to encompass all the flora and fauna that are the environmental stars on this amazing Earth), I really think they should feature here at least once a year.
These particular Collared earthstars (Geastrum triplex) were photographed in both the old and new sections of Cardiff’s Cathays Cemetery last week.
10 Sunday Dec 2023
Posted in fungi
I have never seen as many earthstars as I did during a visit to a Cardiff Cemetery a few weeks ago. There must have been over 50 Collared earthstars (Geastrum triplex) growing under the pine trees at the entrance to the cemetery, a location where I’ve never before seen them despite many visits over several years, so it was a very special sight indeed. And as these are the fungi that originally inspired the name of this blog, I felt I had to include them in this end-of-year countdown.
22 Friday Oct 2021
It’s that time of year when stars appear, as if by magic, from the earth and delight those of us lucky enough to find them with their outlandishness.
And so I made my annual pilgrimage to the location I found a few years ago in a Cardiff cemetery, where I was absolutely delighted to see a very healthy profusion of these beauties.
There were at least 40, with more still emerging from their ‘shells’. I am, of course, referring to the fungi for which this blog is named, the Earthstars, in this case Collared earthstars (Geastrum triplex).
17 Friday Jan 2020
I know we usually speak of starry skies rather than starry soils but, three years ago, when I still lived in Cardiff, I found this one small patch of dirt, ’neath towering conifers in a local cemetery, where the stars could be found emerging from the soil.
These Collared earthstars are the reason for the name of this blog: they show how amazing things can be found in everyday places if we only look; they show how incredible Nature is; they inspired me to write this blog, to try to get people to open their eyes to the beauty our world has to offer, even ten minutes’ walk from home.
This cemetery is no longer managed with wildlife in mind – it is overly neatened and tidied – so I was particularly delighted, during a recent walk, to find these earthstars had escaped the over enthusiast strimming and pruning and scraping and chopping of the council’s operatives. Fingers crossed they continue to thrive.
16 Friday Nov 2018
You can’t have a blog called Earthstar without occasionally having a post about an Earthstar, so here it is.
Though I searched for these amazing little fungi at a known location in Cathays Cemetery a couple of weeks ago, I couldn’t find any. So, I was delighted when a birding acquaintance showed me this solitary Earthstar at a completely new location earlier this week.
This is Geastrum triplex, a Collared earthstar. I’ve previously only found them under conifers but the experts say they are most often found, like this one, under hardwood trees.
I gave its sac a poke to show my friend how the spores are released – let’s hope that also helped to spread the spores so we see more of these little stunners in future.
24 Friday Nov 2017
You can’t have a blog named Earthstar without including, every now and then, a few photos of the Earthstar fungi for which it was named. I was pleased to see this little colony of Collared earthstars (Geastrum triplex) in Cardiff’s Cathays Cemetery is still thriving.
08 Tuesday Dec 2015
Posted in fungi, nature, nature photography
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I could hardly believe my luck last Friday when I discovered my very first Collared Earthstars (Geastrum triplex) in a Cardiff cemetery!
Nestled cosily amongst the leaf litter and liberally sprinkled with layers of pine needles from the trees above, they were almost hidden from view. It was only the regularity of the little orb, sitting atop the collar, that caught my eye and, at a quick glance, I thought it must be a grave ornament. But no!
Those first two Earthstars were well past their best but, for a relatively new fungi fancier like me, they were still a delight to behold. Imagine my joy then, when I returned the next day for a more thorough investigation, to find a total of fourteen (!) growing in close proximity to the first ones. I’ll certainly be keeping a sharp eye on this area in the future to see if I can spot any more little stars that have fallen to earth.
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