Fairy Ring

I took this picture of a "fairy ring" on my way to Lebanon to
have lunch with Terry. They're growing all over the place,
especially in the median of Interstate 40. I pulled off the
Linwood Rd. Exit to get this shot. I wish I could've taken it
from the front of the ring, but major fear of getting smeared
by a semi kept me from it.

The name fairy ring comes from an old folk-tale. People once
believed that mushrooms growing in a circle followed the path
made by fairies dancing in a ring. Fairy rings are found in open
grassy places and in forests.

In grass, the best known fairy ring fungus has the scientific name
Marasmius oreades. The body of this fungus, its mycelium, is
underground.

It grows outward in a circle. As it grows, the mycelium uses up all of the nutrients in the soil, starving the grass. This is the reason a fairy ring has dead grass over the growing edge of the mycelium. Umbrella-shaped fruiting bodies, called mushrooms, spring up from just behind the outer edge of the mycelium. Large rings are created when the older mycelium in the center finally exhausts the soil nutrients and dies. On the death of the central mycelium, the nutrients are returned to the soil and grass can grow again.

More Rock Island photos tomorrow!