{{short description|Genus of fungi}} {{pp-move-indef}} {{Speciesbox | image = Devil's cigar Chorioactis geaster.jpg | image_caption = ''Chorioactis geaster'' | image_alt = A star-shaped mushroom with six rays growing on the ground, surrounded by grass. The interior surface of the mushroom is colored butterscotch-brown. | genus = Chorioactis | parent_authority = Kupfer ex Eckblad (1968)<ref name=Eckblad1968/> | species = geaster | authority = (Peck) Kupfer ex Eckblad (1968)<ref name=Eckblad1968/> | synonyms = ''Urnula geaster'' <small>Peck (1893)</small><ref name=Peck1893/><br> ''Chorioactis geaster'' <small>(Peck) Kupfer (1902)</small><ref name=Kupfer1902/> | range_map = Chorioactis geaster distribution Texas.png | range_map_caption = Distribution in Texas (above), and Japan (below) shown in red and dark green, respectively. | range_map_alt = Map of Texas, with Collin, Travis, Dallas, Denton, Guadalupe, Tarrant and Hunt Counties colored in green. | range_map2 = Chorioactis geaster in Japan.png | range_map2_alt = Map of Japan, with Nara and Miyazaki prefectures colored in dark green. }}
'''''Chorioactis''''' is a genus of fungi that contains the single species '''''Chorioactis geaster'''''.<ref>Although ''geaster'' means "earth star", this fungus is not related to the species ''Geaster'' or any of the Geastraceae.</ref> The mushroom is commonly known as the '''devil's cigar''' or the '''Texas star''' in the United States, while in Japan it is called {{Nihongo3 || キリノミタケ|'''kirinomitake'''}}. This extremely rare mushroom is notable for its unusual appearance and disjunct distribution; it is found only in select locales in Texas, Oklahoma, Japan, and Taiwan. The fruit body, which grows on the stumps or dead roots of cedar elms (in Texas) or dead oaks (in Japan), somewhat resembles a dark brown or black cigar before it splits open radially into a starlike arrangement of four to seven leathery rays. The interior surface of the fruit body bears the spore-bearing tissue known as the hymenium, and is colored white to brown, depending on its age. The fruit body opening can be accompanied by a distinct hissing sound and the release of a smoky cloud of spores.
Fruit bodies were first collected in Austin, Texas, and the species was named ''Urnula geaster'' in 1893; later, it was found in Kyushu in 1937, but the mushroom was not reported again in Japan until 1973. Although the new genus ''Chorioactis'' was proposed to accommodate the unique species a few years after its original discovery, it was not accepted as a valid genus until 1968. Its classification has also been a source of confusion. Historically, ''Chorioactis'' was placed in the fungus family Sarcosomataceae, despite inconsistencies in the microscopic structure of the ascus, the saclike structure in which spores are formed. Phylogenetic analyses of the past decade have clarified the fungus's classification: ''Chorioactis'', along with three other genera, make up the family Chorioactidaceae, a grouping of related fungi formally acknowledged in 2008. In 2009, Japanese researchers reported discovering a form of the fungus missing the sexual stage of its lifecycle; this asexual state was named ''Kumanasamuha geaster''.
==History== The fungus was first collected in 1893 by botanist Lucien Marcus Underwood, who sent the specimens to mycologist Charles Horton Peck for identification. Peck described the species as ''Urnula geaster'' in that year's ''Annual Report of the New York State Botanist'', although he expressed doubt about its generic placement in ''Urnula''.<ref name=Peck1893/> In 1902, student mycologist Elsie Kupfer questioned the proposed classification of various species in the genera ''Urnula'' and ''Geopyxis'', as suggested in an 1896 publication on the Discomycetes by German mycologist Heinrich Rehm. She considered Rehm's transfer of the species to the genus ''Geopyxis'' illogical: <blockquote>""Even externally, the fungus does not closely match Rehm's own description of the genus ''Geopyxis'' under which he places it. The texture of the apothecium is described as fleshy, the stem as short and sometimes thin, while in this plant, the leathery character of the cup and the length and thickness of the stem are its most noticeable features."</blockquote> Working with Underwood's guidance, Kupfer compared the microscopic structure of the hymenium (the fertile, spore-bearing tissue) of the Texan species with a number of similar ones—''Geopyxis carbonaria'', ''Urnula craterium'', and ''Urnula terrestris'' (now known as ''Podophacidium xanthomelum''). She concluded that the Texan species was so dissimilar as to warrant its own genus, which she named ''Chorioactis''.<ref name=Kupfer1902/> Although this taxonomical change was opposed in later studies of the fungus by Frederick De Forest Heald and Frederick Adolf Wolf (1910)<ref name=Heald1910/> and Fred Jay Seaver (1928, 1942),<ref name=Seaver1928/><ref name=Seaver1942/> ''Chorioactis'' was established as a valid genus in 1968 by Finn-Egil Eckblad in his comprehensive monograph about the Discomycetes.<ref name=Eckblad1968/><ref name=Fungorum/>
==Classification and naming== Historically, ''Chorioactis'' was considered to be in the family Sarcosomataceae.<ref name=Korf1970/><ref name=Korf1973/> A 1983 monograph on the family included ''Chorioactis'' in the tribe Sarcosomateae (along with the genera ''Desmazierella'', ''Sarcosoma'', ''Korfiella'', ''Plectania'', and ''Urnula''), a grouping of fungi characterized by having spores lacking small, wart-like projections (verruculae) capable of absorbing blue dye.<ref name=Paden1983/> A 1994 study of the structural features of the asci and the ascospores concluded that ''Chorioactis'' was more closely aligned with the Sarcoscyphaceae, although it conceded that the layering of the cells comprising the walls of the ascus differed considerably from the other members of the family.<ref name=Bellemere1994/> It was not until 1999 that the results of phylogenetic analysis firmly challenged the traditional classification, showing ''C. geaster'' to be part of a distinct lineage, or clade, that includes species in the genera ''Desmazierella'', ''Neournula'', and ''Wolfina'', taxa that were distributed among both families.<ref name=Harrington1999/> This analysis was later corroborated when it was shown that the grouping of these four genera (by then called the "Chorioactis clade") represented a sister clade to the Sarcosomataceae,<ref name=Hansen2006/> and a new family, the Chorioactidaceae, was erected to contain them.<ref name=Pfister2008/> Although ''C. geaster'' shares some characteristics with the other Chorioactidaceae genera, including dark-colored superficial "hairs" on the outer surface of the fruit bodies, it is distinguished from them by its tan to orange (rather than black) hymenia.<ref name=Pfister2004/> thumb|right|Spent seed pods of ''kiri'', the empress tree|alt=A cluster of empty brown roughly circular pods that are split lengthwise into two halves hinged together on the end connected to a branch. The roughly two dozen pods are distributed among about five small twigs on a tree branch, against a background of green leaves. The specific epithet ''geaster'' alludes to members of genus ''Geastrum'', which also open to form star-shaped fruit bodies commonly called 'earthstars'. In the United States, ''Chorioactis geaster'' is commonly known as the Texas star, or the devil's cigar.<ref name=Rudy1996/> Regarding the origin of the latter name American mycologist Fred Jay Seaver commented: "Whether the name Devil's Cigar refers to the form of the young specimens which resemble a bloated cigar in form, as well as in color, or to the fact that the fungus appears to 'smoke' at maturity, we cannot say ... At any rate, the name is very appropriate."<ref name=Seaver1942/>
In 1997, Texas State Senator Chris Harris filed a bill to make ''C. geaster'' the official state fungus of Texas.<ref name=TexasLegislature/> The bill passed the Senate but did not succeed in the House.<ref name=Kelso2006/> The Texas Legislature finally designated the Texas star as the official "State Mushroom of Texas" in 2021.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hatch |first1=Rosie (Ed.) |title=Texas Almanac 2022-2023 |date=2022 |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |location=Austin, Texas |isbn=9781625110664 |page=22}}</ref>
In Japan the mushroom is called ''kirinomitake'' (キリノミタケ), because the immature, unopened fruit body bears a superficial resemblance to the seed pods of ''kiri'', the empress tree (''Paulownia tomentosa'').<ref name=Peterson2004/>
==Description== thumb|left|A closed immature fruiting body, and a specimen cut open to reveal the spore-bearing surface (hymenium) thumb|left|A specimen shortly after dehiscence, but before splitting into recurved rays|alt=A hand holding a dark brown, roughly cigar-shaped object with a lengthwise split that goes about halfway down its length. The split reveals light colored tissue within; some partially obscured light colored tissue can be seen out on the far edge, suggesting a similar split on that side Young specimens of ''C. geaster'' have a hollow, club-shaped, dark-brown fruit body, connected to a stem. The stem, which is usually buried in the ground, is shorter than the hollow fruit body or equals it in length, although the stem length is somewhat variable depending on the depth of the underground root to which it is attached. The flesh of the stem and the wall of the fruit body are white, while the inner surface is yellowish-white, turning light brown with age. The fruit body varies in width from {{convert|1.2|to|3.5|cm|in|1|abbr=on}} in the thickest portion, and has a length of {{convert|4|to|12|cm|in|1|abbr=on}}; the stem is {{convert|0.75|to|1.5|cm|in|1|abbr=on}} wide by {{convert|1|to|5|cm|in|1|abbr=on}} long.<ref name=Heald1910/> Both stem and fruit body are covered by a dense layer of soft, brown, velvety "hairs", or tomentum. In maturity, the fruit body splits open into four to seven rays that curve downward, similar to mushrooms of the genus ''Geastrum''. The spores are borne on the inner surface of the rays, which, depending on the maturity of the specimen, may range in color from whitish to saffron to salmon to butterscotch to chestnut.<ref name=Pfister2008/> The leathery rays are up to {{convert|0.35|cm|in|1|abbr=on}} thick.<ref name=Heald1910/>
The fruit body remains closed until shortly before spore discharge; dehiscence (fruit body opening) is caused by the pressure exerted by swollen paraphyses—sterile (i.e., nonreproductive) cells that are interspersed between the ascospores.<ref name=Pfister1978/> Dehiscence is accompanied by the release of clouds of spores, resembling smoke.<ref name="Beug 2014"/> The spore puffing upon rupture is thought to be caused by the sudden change in relative humidity between the interior chamber of the fruit body and the outside environment.<ref name=Heald1910/> Dehiscence is accompanied by a hissing sound, an auditory phenomenon known to occur in about 15 other fungal species.<ref name=Rudy1996/>
===Microscopic characteristics=== thumb|right|Spores are oblong or spindle-shaped, and contain three to five oil droplets.|alt=Drawing of an oblong object with somewhat pointed ends, and with five internal clear circular areas of varying sizes Spores are oblong to spindle-shaped, and are flattened on one side; they have dimensions of 54–68 μm by 10–13 μm. The spores each contain three to five oil drops. Although the spores have been described as smooth in older literature,<ref name=Korf1972/> when viewed with transmission electron microscopy, they are seen to have minute spots or punctures.<ref name=Pfister2004/> The spores develop simultaneously (synchronously) within the ascus, a developmental feature shared with the Sarcoscyphaceae genera ''Cookeina'' and ''Microstoma''.<ref name=Pfister2004/> Like other members of the Pezizales order, the asci of ''C. geaster'' have an operculum—a "lid"—that opens when the spores are discharged. However, the operculum of ''C. geaster'' develops a two-layered ring zone upon dehiscence, making it structurally distinct from members of both the Sarcosomataceae and the Sarcoscyphaceae families.<ref name=Pfister2004/>
Similar to other Discomycetes, the fruit body consists of three distinct layers of tissue: the hymenium, the hypothecium, and the excipulum. The spore-bearing hymenium, the outermost layer of cells, contains asci interspersed with sterile cells called paraphyses.<ref name=Alexopoulos1996/> In ''C. geaster'', the club-shaped asci are 700–800 μm long and 14–17.25 μm thick;<ref name=Heald1910/> they are abruptly constricted at the base to a narrow pedicel. The paraphyses are initially filamentous or thread-like (filiform) but swell with age to resemble a string of beads (moniliform).<ref name=Pfister2004/> The swelling of the paraphyses is believed to cause the expansion of the hymenium and subsequent splitting of the fruit body into rays; this development places the asci into an optimal position for spore release and dispersal.<ref name=Seaver1937/> Supporting the cells of the hymenium is a thin layer of tightly interwoven hyphae called the hypothecium, and underneath this is a thick layer of loosely interwoven hyphae known as the excipulum. This tissue layer, analogous to parenchyma found in plants, gives the tissue a fibrous texture. The excipulum layer averages 34 μm in diameter, while the hypothecium is 10–14 μm.<ref name=Kupfer1902/> When viewed with electron microscopy, the dark brown "hairs" on the surface of the fruit body can be seen to be adorned with conical warts or spines.<ref name=Bellemere1994/>
===Anamorph form=== Many fungi have an asexual stage in their lifecycle, in which they propagate via asexual spores called conidia. In some cases, the sexual stage—or teleomorph stage—is later identified, and a teleomorph-anamorph relationship is established between the species. In 2004, researchers reported a connection between ''C. geaster'' and the appearance of blackish-brown tufted structures on rotting wood. By comparing the internal transcribed spacer region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA from the two organisms, they established a phylogenetic connection between ''Chorioactis'' and the fungus they called ''Conoplea'' aff. ''elegantula''. However, they were unable to induce the new organism to grow on artificial media, and did not definitively establish a teleomorph-anamorph connection between the fungi.<ref name=Peterson2004/> In 2009, Japanese researchers found a similar fungus growing on rotting logs that were normally associated with the growth of ''C. geaster''; they were able to grow the organism in axenic cultures from single-spore isolates of ''C. geaster''. Until the one fungus, one name rule was enacted in 2011, the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature permitted the recognition of two (or more) names for one and the same organism, one based on the teleomorph, the other(s) restricted to the anamorph(s). So Nagao et al. named the anamorph ''Kumanasamuha geaster'' due to its morphological similarity with species in the genus ''Kumanasamuha''.<ref name=Nagao2009/>
==Distribution, ecology, and habitat== ''Chorioactis geaster'' has a disjunct distribution, and has only been collected from Texas, Oklahoma, Japan, and Taiwan. The first reported collection in Japan was in Kyushu in 1937,<ref name=Imazeki1938/> and then it was not collected again in that location until 36 years later.<ref name=Imazeki1975/> In 2006, it was observed in a humid forest near Kawakami, Nara Prefecture.<ref name=MSoJ52/> The fungus's natural habitat in Japan is disappearing because of the practice of deforestation and replanting with Japanese cedar (''Cryptomeria japonica'').<ref name=Nagao2009/> This rare mushroom has been put on the list of threatened species in Japan.<ref name="urlwww.biodic.go.jp"/> In Texas, the fungus has been reported in Collin,<ref name=Ubelaker2005/> Hays,<ref name="Watson 2010"/> Travis, Dallas, Denton, Guadalupe, Tarrant, and Hunt<ref name="urlUntitled Document"/><!-- and Bell <!-- (37) Shugg 2018--> Counties. Travis, Hays, and Guadalupe Counties are in central Texas, while the remainder are clustered together in the northeastern part of the state. Its habitat may be threatened in Texas by industrialization.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Chorioactis, The Devil's Cigar|url=https://www.savetheuglies.com/post/chorioactis-the-devil-s-cigar|first=Julien|last=Jensen|date=2019-02-16|website=Save the Uglies|access-date=2020-05-18}}</ref> The fungus was reported from Choctaw County, Oklahoma, in 2017, the first record in North America outside of Texas.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ovrebo|first1=Clark|last2=Brandon|first2=Sheila|date=2017|title=First Record of ''Chorioactis geaster'' from Oklahoma|journal=Oklahoma Native Plant Record|volume=17|pages=69–71|doi=10.22488/okstate.18.100007|issn=1536-7738|doi-access=free}}</ref> A population of the fungus was also discovered in Taiwan in 2023.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Glentzer |first1=Molly |title=Shhhhh! The Official State Mushroom of Texas Is Hissing. |url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/travel/texas-star-state-mushroom/ |access-date=19 February 2026 |work=Texas Monthly |date=11 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Stark |first1=Sam |title=Did you know Texas has an official state mushroom that hisses? |url=https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/did-you-know-texas-has-an-official-state-mushroom-that-hisses/ |access-date=19 February 2026 |work=KXAN Austin |date=6 March 2023}}</ref> Although the species is considered rare due to its globally restricted distribution, it may be locally abundant.<ref name=Heald1910/><ref name=Rudy1996/> thumb|right|Texan specimen that clearly shows differences in the color and texture of outer, inner, and internal surfaces|alt=A star-shaped mushroom with four rays growing on the ground, surrounded by dead leaves: The interior surface of the mushroom is butterscotch colored, and the center of the mushroom is cracked to reveal the white tissue layer underneath. The external surface is rough, and a dark brown color. Although it is not known definitively, ''Chorioactis'' is believed to be saprobic, deriving nutrients from decomposing organic matter.<ref name=Hansen2006/> In Texas, fruit bodies are found growing singly or in groups from roots, stumps, and dead roots of cedar elm trees (''Ulmus crassifolia'')<ref name=MSA1996/> or ''Symplocos myrtacea'';<ref name=Pfister2008/><ref name=Dunaway2007/> in Japan, the usual host is dead oak trees.<ref name="urlwww.biodic.go.jp"/> Fruit bodies can be clustered together close to the base of the stump, or from the roots away from the stump; the stem of the fruit body tends to originate from a point {{convert|5|to|10|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} below the ground.<ref name=Heald1910/> In Texas, fruit bodies usually appear between October and April, as this period is associated with somewhat cooler weather, and the temperature and moisture conditions during this time seem to be more favorable for growth.<ref name=Heald1910/>
Scientists do not know why the fungus lives only in Texas, Japan, and Taiwan, locations of approximately the same latitude,<ref name=Peterson2004/> but separated by {{convert|11000|km|mi|abbr=on}}. Fred Jay Seaver commented "this is only another illustration of the unusual and unpredictable distribution of many species of the fungi. It would be difficult indeed to account for it, and we merely accept the facts as they are."<ref name=Seaver1939/> In 2004, a research study compared the DNA sequences of both populations and used a combination of molecular phylogenetics and molecular clock calculations to estimate the extent of genetic divergence. It concluded that the two populations have been separated for at least 19 million years, ruling out the possibility of human introduction of the species from one location to the other.<ref name=Peterson2004/> Although no consistent differences in morphology are seen between the two populations, several differences exist in their life histories. The preferred host of Texan populations is typically roots and stumps of ''Ulmus crassifolia'', while the Japanese populations tend to grow on the fallen trunks of ''Symplocos myrtacea'' and ''Quercus gilva''. Texan species grow in areas subjected to periodic flooding, unlike their Japanese counterparts. Finally, only Japanese specimens can be grown in culture—the spores of Texan material have not been successfully germinated on artificial media.<ref name=Peterson2004/><ref name=Nagao2009/>
==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=
<ref name=Alexopoulos1996>{{Cite book |vauthors=Alexopoulos CJ, Mims CW, Blackwell M |title=Introductory Mycology |publisher=Wiley |location=New York, New York |year=1996 |pages=378–9 |isbn=978-0-471-52229-4}}</ref>
<ref name=Bellemere1994>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Bellemère A, Meléndez-Howell LM, Chacun H, Malherbe MC |year=1994 |title=Les asques du ''Chorioactis geaster'' (Ascomycetes, Pezizales, Sarcoscyphaceae), leur déhiscence et leurs ascospores: étude ultrastructurale |trans-title=The asci of ''Chorioactis geaster'' (Ascomycetes, Pezizales, Sarcoscyphaceae), their dehiscence and ascospores: ultrastructural studies |journal=Nova Hedwigia |volume=58 |issue=1–2 |pages=49–65 |issn=0029-5035 |language=fr}}</ref>
<ref name="Beug 2014">{{cite book |vauthors=Beug MW, Bessette AE, Bessette AR |title=Ascomycete Fungi of North America: A Mushroom Reference Guide |year=2014 |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin, Texas |isbn=978-0-292-75452-2 |page=139 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wzbTAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA139}}</ref>
<ref name=Dunaway2007>{{Cite book|vauthors=Dunaway DL, Bessette A, Roody WC, Bessette AR |title=Mushrooms of the Southeastern United States |publisher=Syracuse University Press |location=Syracuse, New York |year=2007 |pages=83, 312 |isbn=978-0-8156-3112-5}}</ref>
<ref name=Eckblad1968>{{Cite journal|author=Eckblad F-E. |year=1968 |title=The genera of the operculate Discomycetes. A reevaluation of their taxonomy, phylogeny and nomenclature |journal=Nytt Magasin for Botanikk |volume=15 |pages=1–191}}</ref>
<ref name=Kupfer1902>{{Cite journal |author=Kupfer EM. |year=1902 |title=Studies on ''Urnula'' and ''Geopyxis'' |jstor=2478861 |journal=Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=137–44 |doi=10.2307/2478861|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/246261 }}</ref>
<ref name=Fungorum>{{Cite web |url=http://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/genusrecord.asp?RecordID=34090 |title=Genus Record Details: ''Chorioactis'' Kupfer |publisher=Index Fungorum. CAB International |access-date=2014-10-20}}</ref>
<ref name=Hansen2006>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Hansen K, Pfister DH |s2cid=20890635 |year=2006 |title=Systematics of the Pezizomycetes—the operculate discomycetes |journal=Mycologia |volume=98 |issue=6 |pages=1029–1040 |doi=10.3852/mycologia.98.6.1029 |pmid=17486978}}</ref>
<ref name=Harrington1999>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Harrington FA, Pfister DH, Potter D, Donoghue MJ |year=1999 |title=Phylogenetic studies within the Pezizales. I. 18S rRNA sequence data and classification |journal=Mycologia |volume=91 |issue=1 |pages=41–50 |jstor=3761192 |doi=10.2307/3761192}}</ref>
<ref name=Heald1910>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Heald FD, Wolf FA |year=1910 |title=The structure and relationship of ''Urnula geaster'' |journal=Botanical Gazette |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=182–8 |jstor=2467693 |doi=10.1086/330146|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1431385 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
<ref name=Imazeki1938>{{Cite journal |author=Imazeki R. |year=1938 |title=A rare fungus, ''Urnula Geaster'' Peck grows in Kyusyu, Japan |journal=Journal of Japanese Botany |volume=14 |issue=1–3 |pages=680–4 |language=ja}}</ref>
<ref name=Imazeki1975>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Imazeki R, Otani Y |year=1975 |title=Rediscovery of ''Chorioactis geaster'' in Kyushu, Japan |journal=Nippon Kingakukai Kaiho |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=222–9 |language=ja}}</ref>
<ref name=Kelso2006>{{Cite book |author=Kelso J. |title=Texas Curiosities, 3rd: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff (Curiosities Series) |publisher=Globe Pequot |location=Guilford, Connecticut |year=2006 |page=82 |isbn=978-0-7627-4109-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gW9ye7wu0E0C&pg=PA82}}</ref>
<ref name=Korf1970>{{Cite journal |author=Korf RP. |year=1970 |title=Nomenclatural notes. VII. Family and tribe names in the Sarcoscyphineae (Discomycetes) and a new taxonomic disposition of the genera |journal=Taxon |volume=19 |issue=5 |pages=782–86 |jstor=1219292 |doi=10.2307/1219292 |bibcode=1970Taxon..19..782K }}</ref>
<ref name=Korf1972>{{Cite journal |author=Korf RP. |year=1972 |title=Synoptic key to the genera of the Pezizales |journal=Mycologia |volume=64 |issue=5 |pages=937–94 |jstor=3758070 |doi=10.2307/3758070}}</ref>
<ref name=Korf1973>{{Cite book |author=Korf RP. |editor=Sussman AS |title=The Fungi: An Advanced Treatise |publisher=Academic Press |location=London, UK |year=1973 |isbn=978-0-12-045604-8 |chapter=Discomycetes and Tuberales}}</ref>
<ref name=Nagao2009>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Nagao H, Kurogi S, Kiyota E, Sasatomi K |year=2009 |title=''Kumanasamuha geaster'' sp. nov., an anamorph of ''Chorioactis geaster'' from Japan |journal=Mycologia |volume=101 |issue=6 |pages=871–77 |doi=10.3852/08-121 |pmid=19927753|s2cid=27704164 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/895516 }}</ref>
<ref name=Paden1983>{{Cite journal |author=Paden JW. |year=1983 |title=Sarcosomataceae (Pezizales, Sarcoscyphineae) |journal=Flora Neotropica |volume=37 |pages=1–16 |jstor=4393775}}</ref>
<ref name=Peck1893>{{Cite journal |author=Peck CH. |year=1893 |title=Forty-sixth report on the State Museum |journal=Report of the N. Y. State Botanist |volume=49 |page=39 |url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015068586158;q1=urnula%20geaster;start=1;size=25;page=search;seq=127;view=image;num=119 }}</ref>
<ref name=Peterson2004>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Peterson KR, Bell CD, Kurogi S, Pfister DH |title=Phylogeny and biogeography of ''Chorioactis geaster'' (Pezizales, Ascomycota) inferred from nuclear ribosomal DNA sequences |journal=Harvard Papers in Botany |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=141–52 |year=2004}}</ref>
<ref name=Pfister1978>{{Cite journal |author=Pfister DH. |year=1978 |title=Apothecial development in ''Cookeina tricholoma'' with comments on some related species |journal=Mycologia |volume=70 |issue=6 |pages=1253–7 |jstor=3759326 |doi=10.2307/3759326 |url=http://www.cybertruffle.org.uk/cyberliber/59350/0070/006/1253.htm |access-date=2011-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923225852/http://www.cybertruffle.org.uk/cyberliber/59350/0070/006/1253.htm |archive-date=2015-09-23 |url-status=dead |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
<ref name=Pfister2004>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Pfister DH, Kurogi S |year=2004 |title=A note on some morphological features of ''Chorioactis geaster'' (Pezizales, Ascomycota) |journal=Mycotaxon |volume=89 |issue=2 |pages=277–81}}</ref>
<ref name=Pfister2008>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Pfister DH, Slater C, Hansen K |title=Chorioactidaceae: a new family in the Pezizales (Ascomycota) with four genera |journal=Mycological Research |volume=112 |issue=Pt 5 |pages=513–27 |year=2008 |pmid=18406592 |doi=10.1016/j.mycres.2007.11.016}}</ref>
<ref name=MSoJ52>{{cite conference |title=Endangered fungi ''Chorioactis geaster'', newly recorded in Central Japan |vauthors=Maruyama K, Sakuma D, Kotera Y, Kimura M, Kikuchi J |publisher=Mycological Society of Japan |work=The 52nd Annual Meeting of the Mycological Society of Japan |page=P041 |year=2008 |location=Tsukuba, Ibaraki}}</ref>
<ref name=Rudy1996>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Rudy KC, Keller HW |title=The rare and fascinating Devil's Cigar, ''Chorioactis geaster'' |journal=Mycologist |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=33–5 |year=1996 |doi=10.1016/S0269-915X(96)80051-6}}</ref>
<ref name=Seaver1928>{{Cite book |title=The North American Cup-Fungi (Operculates) |author=Seaver FJ. |year=1928 |publisher=Hafner Publishing Co |location=New York, New York |page=200 |url=https://archive.org/stream/northamericancup00seav#page/200/mode/2up}}</ref>
<ref name=Seaver1937>{{Cite journal |author=Seaver FJ. |year=1937 |title=Photographs and descriptions of cup-fungi: XXV. ''Urnula geaster'' |journal=Mycologia |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=60–5 |jstor=3754200 |doi=10.2307/3754200 |url=http://www.cybertruffle.org.uk/cyberliber/59350/0029/001/0060.htm |access-date=2011-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923222854/http://www.cybertruffle.org.uk/cyberliber/59350/0029/001/0060.htm |archive-date=2015-09-23 |url-status=dead |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
<ref name=Seaver1939>{{Cite journal |author=Seaver FJ. |year=1939 |title=''Urnula geaster'' |journal=Mycologia |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=367–8 |url=http://www.cybertruffle.org.uk/cyberliber/59350/0031/003/0367.htm |jstor=3754533 |access-date=2011-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923222914/http://www.cybertruffle.org.uk/cyberliber/59350/0031/003/0367.htm |archive-date=2015-09-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name=Seaver1942>{{Cite book |title=The North American Cup-Fungi (Operculates) |edition=Supplemented |author=Seaver FJ. |year=1942 |publisher=The Lancaster Press |location=Lancaster, Pennsylvania |page=200 |url=https://archive.org/stream/northamericancup00seav#page/200/mode/2up/search/chorioactis}}</ref>
<ref name=TexasLegislature>{{Cite web |url=http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/75R/billtext/html/SC00027E.htm |title=75(R) SCR 27 Engrossed version – Bill Text |publisher=Texas Legislature Online |access-date=2014-10-20}}</ref>
<ref name=Ubelaker2005>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Ubelaker JE, Starks JK |year=2005 |title=A new record of the Devil's Cigar, ''Chorioactis geaster'' (Pezizales: Ascomycota), from Collin County, Texas |journal=SIDA, Contributions to Botany |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=1939–40}}</ref>
<ref name=MSA1996>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Keller HW, Rudy KC |year=1996 |title=Ecological and life history observations of a rare ascomycete, ''Chorioactis geaster'', the devil's cigar |journal=Inoculum |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=15 |quote=Abstracts of Papers and Posters Presented at the MSA Annual Meeting held 27–31 July at the Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, IN |url=http://www.msafungi.org/wp-content/uploads/Inoculum/47(3).pdf |issn=0541-4938 |access-date=2010-01-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723015608/http://www.msafungi.org/wp-content/uploads/Inoculum/47(3).pdf |archive-date=2011-07-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="urlwww.biodic.go.jp">{{Cite web |url=http://www.biodic.go.jp/english/rdb/red_fungi.csv |title=Red List of Threatened Fungi of Japan |publisher=Japanese Ministry of the Environment |access-date=2014-10-20}}</ref>
<ref name="urlUntitled Document">{{Cite web |url=http://www.oakwilt.com/devils_cigar.html |title=The rare and exotic devil's cigar |author=Mims FM. |date=2004 |location=Seguin, Texas |work=Seguin Gazette-Enterprise |access-date=2014-10-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021081709/http://www.oakwilt.com/devils_cigar.html |archive-date=2014-10-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="Watson 2010">{{cite journal |author=Watson T. |title=Rare mushroom found at Onion Creek |journal=Hays County Master Naturalists Newsletter |date=February 2010 |url=http://haysmn.org/downloads/HCMNNewsFeb10.pdf |pages=7–8 |access-date=2010-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726142320/http://haysmn.org/downloads/HCMNNewsFeb10.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Chorioactis geaster}} * {{mycobank|1022|name=''Chorioactis'' Kupfer ex Eckblad|34090|name2=''Chorioactis'' Kupfer}} * {{mycobank|328180|name=''C. geaster'' (Peck) Kupfer ex Eckblad|479421|name2=''C. geaster'' (Peck) Kupfer}} * [http://fungi.sakura.ne.jp/ajiwai_kinoko/kirinomitake.htm キリノミタケ ''Chorioactis geaster''] by I. Asai – several photos
{{Taxonbar|from=Q18338273}} {{Featured article}}
Category:Pezizales Category:Taxa described in 1893 Category:Fungi of the United States Category:Fungi of Asia Category:Monotypic Ascomycota genera Category:Fungi without expected TNC conservation status