AUSTIN, Texas — For the people who are fascinated by mushrooms, or for the scientists who study them, it’s one of the strangest ones of all.
Known by its Latin name as Chorioactis geaster, the mushrooms are usually called Texas Stars. They're especially strange because they make an odd hissing sound when they release their spores.
“It sounds like someone is opening a bottle of soda or the like the hissing of a snake” said Angel Schatz, a volunteer with the Austin-based Central Texas Mycological Society. “The spores are large, and scientists believe their size has something to do with the sound they make.”
For the past few weeks, the Texas Stars have been showing up in Austin’s Zilker Botanical Garden. On a recent visit, Schatz pointed out a number of the leathery, dark, orange colored, star-shaped mushrooms that had sprouted from old tree stumps near the back of the gardens.
The mushrooms' uniqueness is enhanced by the fact that that they almost exclusively grow in Texas and Japan. Cool, wet days tend to encourage their growth.
“Texas is only one of three states that has an official state mushroom, and we’re happy that the Texas Star earned that honor,” Schatz said.