Scleroderma polyrhizum
Scleroderma polyrhizum, commonly known as the star earthball or dead man's hand, is a basidiomycete fungus and a member of the genus Scleroderma, or "earthballs". Found in dry, sandy soils, this species begins completely buried before slowly forcing the soil aside as it cracks apart to form a rough, star-shaped body with a diameter of . At the center is the dark, brownish spore mass. Widely distributed wherever the soil and climate are favorable, it is known from Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Taxonomy The species was first described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1792 as Lycoperdon polyrhizum. Christiaan Hendrik Persoon transferred the species to the genus Scleroderma in his 1801 work Synopsis methodica fungorum. Elias Fries's Scleroderma geaster (published in 1829) is a synonym; the epithet geaster refers to the similarity with earthstar fungi of the genus Geastrum. In 1848, Joseph-Henri Léveillé considered the star-shaped opening of mature fruit bodies to be a distinct characteristic and proposed the genus Sclerangium to contain the taxon. According to the classification of Scleroderma proposed by Gastón Guzmán in 1970, Scleroderma polyrhizum is placed in the subgenus Sclerangium, which includes species with partially reticulate spores. Common names that have been used for the