Diplocystaceae

Its most famous species is Astraeus hygrometricus. The fruit body is 1.02 - 8 cm in diameter from tip to tip when expanded. The exoperidium is thick, and the rays are typically areolate (divided into small areas by cracks and crevices) on the upper surface, and are dark gray to black. The spore case is sessile (lacking a stalk), light gray to tan color and 1.02 - 3 cm broad with a felt-like or scurfy (coated with loose scaly crust) surface; the top of the spore case is opened by an irregular slit, tear, or pore. The interior of the spore case, the gleba, is white and solid when young and divided into oval locules—a characteristic that helps to distinguish it from Diplocystidiaceae. The gleba becomes brown and powdery as the specimen matures.