[3] Christiaan Hendrik Persoon transferred the species to the genus Scleroderma in his 1801 work Synopsis methodica fungorum.

[6] In 1848, Joseph-Henri Léveillé considered the star-shaped opening of mature fruit bodies to be a distinct characteristic and proposed the genus Sclerangium to contain the taxon.

As the mushroom matures, the peridium (outer skin) opens in a star-like manner to form 4–8 rays that curl back and expose the inner spore mass (gleba).

Typically, more than half of the fruit bodies remains buried in the ground, attached by white, string-like or flattened strands rhizomorphs.

In young specimens, the gleba is firm and light grey, but it becomes dark brown and powdery after the spores mature.

[13] A drop of dilute potassium hydroxide placed on the surface of the fruit body will either be nonreactive or turn the peridium slightly yellow.

[16] It has also been recorded from Africa,[18] Asia (China[19] and Japan[20]), Europe,[21][22] South America (Brazil),[23] and Oceania.