Asterophora lycoperdoides | |
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Scientific classification | |
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Species: | A. lycoperdoides
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Binomial name | |
Asterophora lycoperdoides (Bull.) Ditmar
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Synonyms[1] | |
Species synonymy
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Asterophora lycoperdoides | |
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Gills on hymenium | |
Stipe is bare | |
Spore print is white | |
Ecology is parasitic | |
Edibility is inedible |
Asterophora lycoperdoides, commonly known as the star bearer, or powdery piggyback mushroom,[2] is a species of fungus in the Lyophyllaceae family. It grows as a parasite on other mushrooms, mainly those in the genus Russula. Its gills are poorly formed or nearly absent. Asexual spores are produced on the mushrooms cap which enable the organism to clone itself easily. The spores are star-shaped, hence the name star bearer. It is regarded as nonpoisonous but inedible.[3][4]
Asterophora parasitica is similar but has more conic caps.[5]
The species was first named as Agaricus lycoperdonoides by French mycologist Jean Baptiste Francois Pierre Bulliard in 1784.