'fairy' rings of toadstools/mushrooms

[roomby]

When I was a kid, I saw these often, but I haven't seen one for years. Do they still form? Are they less common? What causes them?
Thanks
R

[warpig1]

Sorry, don't know what caused them but I was in Rostrevor years ago and there was a serious ring of toadstools, it was awesome, you could almost imagine the pixies and fairies jumping around!

[spudqueen]

Yes, they still form. I presume it's the way that the mushrooms spore that produces them in a ring. When the mushrooms have died away you can see a 'fairy ring' on the grass.

[arburgirl]

what do you mean, warpig1, you can almost imagine the pixies and fairies ??? if you look close enough you can actually see them. I have a fairy ring which comes back year after year in the damp weather in my grass in exactly the same place, I think they must be there all the year though, but theyr'e invisible.

[warpig1]

Sorry arburgirl, no offence meant, but maybe I just cant se them, doesn't meant they are not there however!

[Thunderbird+]

Yes roomby they still appear but I'm not sure if they are less common or not but I think you may be right in thinking they are. I have one on my lawn what comes back year after year, not thet I mind that though.

The mushroom part you see above the ground is mearly the fruiting body of a much larger plant/fungi, a net work of tiny threads known as Mycellium, these radiate out from a central point and form the 'Fairy ring' Some of the large circles can be many years old, as the growth is very gradule as they expand each year. I just tend to admire them as one of natures wonders. Good Luck Tbird+

[eyeshade]

I have a fairy ring of mushrooms on my front lawn, they were there all last summer and this summer they have moved about 1 foot! I chop them with the hover but they come back and back.

[Carakeel]

Most mornings, after I have dropped my partner off at work, I take my dog down to a beautiful stretch (2X4miles) of grasslands and dunes bordered on one side by a pebble ridge and the open sea. There are between 50 and 100 horses and up to 500 sheep running free here and the short grass is covered in the tiniest little wild flowers, brush and lots of fairy rings. So yes, they do still exist and are a delight to see. :o)

[Cheesefreek]

Apparently, in the middle of a fairy ring there is a certain point that you can push, and the whole ring descends and takes you into a fairy/pixie town. If you don't believe me, check with Enid Blyton.

[CrazyWolfman]

Possibly it's because people boot them around more nowadays, also more fungicide, pesticide and everythingicide is used on farms. As Thunderbird+ has already explained, the toadstools are all a part of the same thing and are linked together by mycelium. Thus you can tell the approximate age of it by the radius of the ring, as each year it expands (only the most distant points of the fungi produce the spores, these are therefore the newest bits). Obviously then new ones are just a small cluster of toadstools when they spore. It's only the older ones that make wide rings (ie. the ones which haven't been hoofed around or subjected to fungicides, either applied directly or via leeching from nearby farmland). In other words, perhaps most of the ones you see today are all younger as they haven't had the chance to grow much before they get killed.

It's just a theory though so correct me if I'm wrong.

[arburgirl]

I was telling my dad about this question, and he remembers where he lived in Mitchelstown in Ireland, that they built a new road, (by-pass I think) out of the town and they went round in a big arch shape to avoid a so called "enchanted" piece of land !