Alex Hyde / Earth star fungus (Geastraceae) emerging from leaf litter on rainforest floor, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

Adrian Davies / Earthstar fungus (Geastrum sp) in primary rain forest, Sabah, Borneo

Paul Harcourt Davies / Collared earthstar fungus (Geastrum triplex) in oak woodland, near Sorano, Tuscany, Italy, October.

Paul Harcourt Davies / Collared earthstar fungus (Geastrum triplex) on oak leaf litter, near Sorano, Tuscany, Italy, October.

Adrian Davies / Collared Earthstar Fungus (Geastrum triplex) Surrey, England, UK, November.

Adrian Davies / Collared Earthstar Fungus (Geastrum triplex) Surrey, England, UK, November.

Adrian Davies / Collared Earthstar Fungus (Geastrum triplex) Surrey, England, UK, November.

Adrian Davies / Collared Earthstar Fungus (Geastrum triplex) Surrey, England, UK, November.

Adrian Davies / Earthstar fungus (Geastrum triplex) dispersing spores after water drop impact, Surrey, UK. November.

Paul Harcourt Davies / Common earth-star fungi (Geastrum triplex) on woodland floor, Orvieto, Umbria. Italy, November.

Alex Hyde / Collared earthstar (Geastrum michelianum) on forest floor, dispersing spores. This species disperses its spores when raindrops strike the fruiting body, here the fungus has been tapped with a twig to...

Nick Upton / Collared earthstar mushroom (Geastrum triplex) among Beech woodland leaf litter, Buckholt wood NNR, Gloucestershire, UK, October.