Bizarre Mushrooms Sprouting HISS in Texas: Lone Star State and Japan Are Only Places Where Strange Fungi Occur

A very strange hissing mushroom is popping up in Texas; the only other species of this species is found all the way in Japan.

The mushrooms are known as Texas stars because of their star-like shape and origin from Texas.

Chorioactis geaster is the Latin name for the unique fungus, which hisses audibly as they release their spores.

“It sounds like someone opening a bottle of soda or something like a snake hissing,” said Angel Schatz, a volunteer with the Austin-based Central Texas Mycological Society.

“The spores are large and scientists think their size has something to do with the sound they make,” Schatz said.

“It sounds like someone opening a bottle of soda or something like a snake hissing,” said Angel Schatz, a volunteer with the Austin-based Central Texas Mycological Society (pictured).

The strange mushrooms are popping up in Austin's Zilker Botanical Garden — and Schatz identified one of the leathery dark orange mushrooms sprouting from a tree stump.

While the mushrooms are known as Texas stars in the US, in Japan they are called kirinomitake.

“Texas is only one of three states with an official state mushroom, and we are thrilled that the Texas star has earned that honor,” Schatz said.

The fruity body grows on the stumps or dead rods of cedar elms in Texas or dead oaks in Japan.

Stars from Texas are aptly called the official State Mushroom of Texas.

Legislation to officially give the sizzling mushroom its due was introduced by former 2021 House Representative Ben Leman and later signed by Governor Greg Abbot.

“The mushroom is a poignant reminder of the natural diversity that surrounds us,” Leman wrote in his 2021 resolution.

“The Texas star mushroom is as unusual and striking as the state it calls home, and indeed deserves special recognition.”

When the Texas Star emerges from the ground as a three-inch cylindrical pod, it resembles a cigar – hence another name for the mushroom is the 'devil's cigar'.

“The spores are large and scientists think their size has something to do with the sound they make,” Schatz said of the mushrooms

If conditions are perfect, the mushroom will undergo a process called dehiscence where the structure falls apart.

“It will open up into a three- to eight-pointed star,” Schatz explained.

“It's a really cool mushroom to have as our state mushroom,” she continued.

'We love all mushrooms. We think they're all magical, especially this one,” Schatz said KXAN Austin.