See the rare 'Devil's Cigar' hissing mushroom spotted at Texas state park

BURNET, Texas – It is said that when the Devil's Cigar unfurls, it releases a strange hissing noise and a hazy cloud of spores.

Does that freak you out yet? It's one of the rarest mushrooms worldwide and was recently spotted along a trail at Inks Lake State Park in Texas.

The mushroom, also known as the Texas Star, or officially, Chorioactis geaster, was designated as the state mushroom of Texas on July 22, 2021.

The star-shaped fungus is highly selective about where it grows, mainly attaching to decaying cedar elm stumps in the central and northern parts of Texas, the Texas Parks and Wildlife said. Japan is the only other country where it has been seen and documented. 

The mushroom appears in the late fall, as it emerges as a dark brown, fuzzy capsule. Its 3-4 inch length inspires another of its nicknames, the Devil’s Cigar.

The distribution of the "Texas Star" tends to puzzle scientists, Texas Parks and Wildlife said. The fungus is entirely unique to Texas, except for the odd sighting around Kyushu, Japan.

This article first appeared on FOX Weather. READ MORE: https://www.foxweather.com/earth-space/devils-cigar-hissing-mushroom-texas