Summary:
{See also Earthstars Table.} Features include 1) a large sized fruitbody, the outer wall splitting into 4-8 non-hygroscopic rays that fold back and bend under the spore case, 2) the pinkish brown inner layer of the rays breaking so that a shallow cup (saucer) is left around the base of the spore case, 3) a stalkless spore case smooth and tan, grayish or reddish brown, with an apical pore area radially fibrillose, broadly conic, delimited by a faint circular depression and often by a pale halo, 4) a spore mass deep brown to smoky brown and powdery, and 5) round warty spores.

Odor:
none (Miller)

Microscopic:
spores 3.5-4.2 microns in diameter excluding ornamentation, 4.5-5.5 microns in diameter including ornamentation, round, "yellow-brown to dark brown, verruculose", "verruculae mostly isolated, blunt-cylindric", 0.4-0.6 microns high, 0.3-0.7 microns wide; capillitial hyphae 3-7 microns wide, pale yellow-brown to almost colorless, "thick-walled, distinctly encrusted over much of their length", "gradually tapered to obtuse or subacute tips", (Pegler), spores 3.5-4.5 x 3.5-4.5 microns, round, warty, (Arora), spores 4-5 x 4-5 microns, round, coarsely verrucose (warty), about 14 warts around circumference, each 0.5-1.2 microns long; basidia about 20 microns long, with long sterigmata; cystidia not seen; capillitial threads up to 7 microns wide, thick-walled, brownish, without septa, (Breitenbach)

Spore Deposit:
dark brown (Breitenbach)

Notes:
Geastrum triplex has been found in mixed forests in ID and OR, (Ramsey). It was reported from BC (in Redhead(5)), and from CA (Arora), and is widely distributed in North America, (Lincoff(2)). It is found in Europe (Breitenbach), and common in Asia (Miller(14)). The species was examined from AZ, and previously reported from AL, AZ, FL, IL, MD, MI, MO, NJ, NM, OH, PA, TX, WA, and WI, Canada, China, Europe, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Mexico and South America, (Bates). There are collections from BC at Pacific Forestry Centre and the University of British Columbia (the latter also with collections from AB, IN, MN).

EDIBILITY

supposedly edible when white inside, but rarely found at that stage, and too tough and fibrous to eat later, (Arora), not edible (Phillips)

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Trametes americana Overh.
Trametes odorata (Wulfen) Fr.