Langshan Mountain-World Natural Heritage

Mushrooms in nature have various shapes and forms. Some are very deadly, some are delicious and some are beautiful and magical. They are ordinary plants full of magic.

Recently, a photography enthusiast discovered a very strange-looking fungus species in the Shunhuangshan National Nature Reserve in Xinning county, Hunan province. The fellows didn’t know what it was. After many inquires, they learned that the species is called geastrum triplex which is know as one of the ten most peculiar and beautiful mushrooms in the world.

Yan Keming, a photographer, said: “I like to cross countryside and walk in the mountains. For the first time, I saw such strange things, like pearls and fungi, with 9 claws. I have never seen it. This color is so beautiful, it looks like man-made, I can’t see what it is, I’ve never seen it before, it’s amazing!”

Geastrum triplex is a kind of dust fungus that grows at a certain altitude and location. It looks like it has just emerged from the ground. This unusual mushroom shape has a radial edge and a fruiting body (an organ of fungus) in the center, which spreads the spores on the fruiting body when the wind blows by.

Geastrum triplex is a valuable plant with a certain medicinal value. It is said that it can also predict future astronomical phenomena.

Shunhuangshan National Nature Reserve has done a good job in environmental protection in recent years, so it can grow geastrum triplex. A resource survey has be done on the entire forest area of Xinning county, and this is the first time the geastrum triplex has been discovered. It proves that the ecology of Xinning county is getting better and better. Great efforts have indeed been made in environmental protection. The emergence of this strain has added another species to the biodiversity of Xinning county.