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Project Noah Nature School
a fairy ring shaped like a smile
lawn underneath a locust tree
I was wondering why the the grass is brown in between the lines of the ring, so I looked up this mushroom in the book Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora. Very interesting...here is a quote from the book. "...its presence can be detected even when it isn't fruiting - just look for 'fairy rings' (patches of brown grass rimmed by a lush zone of darker green grass). The living mycelium on the periphery of the ring stimulates the grass to grow, while the dried up mycelial matter within the circle inhibits growth." Also supposed to be delicious, but I'm not going to try it unless I have an expert ID it.
Spotted on Aug 30, 2011
Submitted on Aug 30, 2011
7 Comments
Thank you Emma! I had never seen one before until I saw this one, and one which also came up near this photo. Both in an arc shape.
That is a great fairy ring!
For some reason this site is giving my photo location as Newark, New York. It is actually Staten Island, New York.
These particular mushrooms really lasted a long time. They did not decay and were still going strong til yesterday when they were mowed over.
You're welcome Dana! They suddenly sprouted up on Monday. There was actually another one nearby. I guess all the moisture from Irene is causing a mushroom population explosion.
I wish the quality of the photo was a bit better, but thank you very much!
Lovely