This mushroom is the ‘perfect lawn’ mans worst enemy. Although I love them, my dad goes spare at the sight of them – “bloody mushrooms ruining my lawn etc…” – “Natures got no rules man” is my lame hippy reply!

Lawns are the main target ground for Fairy Ring Champignon (Marasmius oreades) – or at least where we may see them the most. It’s a very common mushroom around spring to autumn time. My recent discoveries were late summer  (as shown in the pictures) and very recently in mid-september again in my dad’s garden (again)!

‘Champignon’ is the nice French word for ‘mushroom’. It’s a highly prized edible mushroom sold throughout Europe and USA in many markets. To the local wild picker, it can be found in short grass, lawns, parks and pasture land. It is often in rings, although not all the time.

What’s this ‘fairy ring’ thing all about then? We’ve got to get into underground mycology magic for that. The mushroom is the ‘fruit’ of the underground mycelium, or organism that is the fungi (a network of fine white filaments known as hyphae). Mushrooms are born to deliver their spores in the breeding process.

In short, the mycelium expands as it grows outwards from a central position. The older, central zone dies off and at the edges of this ring is where the mushroom grows. Die hard gardeners are extra miffed because the grass around the ring dehydrates and dies too (helped along by fungal cyanide toxins). The outer grass region is a nice and green affair due to the hungry, feeding mycelim.

Some of these ‘fairy ring’ organisms have lasted for hundreds of years and more (not just our Marasmius oreades) and can reach up to a mile in diametre. They are are truly wonderful organisms that seem to break all kinds of records. But that’s another story for a later date.

Recently, I have seen many Fairy Ring Champignons collections. Some were but a few, others in partial rings and only one as a giant ring in pasture land of about 4 metres in diametre. The caps (or heads) of these beauties are the best edible part. Just discard the stems as they are just too tough and not worth it. Make sure you get them when they’re young – you won’t make a mistake because the older ones just look unapetizing anyway! Check out recipes online. They’re also good for pickling as they hold their shape and don’t disintegrate. Hope you find as many as I have.

Although not in a ring this time - here's a few of the Champignons on a lawn

The Weeping Widow (Lacrymaria lacrymabunda) has got to have one of the best common names I’ve heard of even though it has a negative vibe about it. It sounds like a toadstool you should avoid at all costs, but never fear, this mushroom is not poisonous but is in fact edible, though unfortunately a little bitter. I’ve read about a simple recipe where you can cook with butter or deep fry for a while and then serve with a sweet pickle to counteract the twinge of the bitter taste. Worth a try I think. I’ll let you know in a later post if I do…

It’s season is late spring to Autumn. Earlier in June, my father found a group of them at the edge of his garden (near soil and a paved patio). I’ve also found them growing from peoples gravel driveways! But these beauties were found on tufted grass in local park’s car park (near gravel and paving again). So this is interesting to note – as a general rule they tend to grow near (or on) paths and roadsides mainly in short grass.

It’s a medium sized yellow/ochre brown mushroom which is convex shaped which has a persistent central umbo (rounded bump). As it grows older the cap flattens out and the brown coloured centre appears darker. The gills are dark brown/purple.

In it’s early development the upper part of the stem is trapped within the closed cap. Being from the Ink Cap family it has inky black spores which characteristically leave their mark here. When the cap opens the fibred/cotton-like veil remnants can remain (NOT weblike like a webcap), giving it a woolly edged appearance.

So why is it called the Weeping Widow? It’s a well earned name, because during moist/damp weather conditions it exudes droplets of water which many books term as ‘weeping’. Makes sense, but not as much as the Widow part!? See examples in the picture below (top left) of  how the droplets form on the gills.

Medium ochre brown mushroom - The Weeping Widow

The Weeping Widow is common in gardens too. Here we have a group of young specimens and an older, darker brown example. The bottom right picture shows the cotton-like veil breaking away from the cap of a younger Lacrymaria lacrymabunda.

Spring finally came, and that extreme winter we’ve just had just wouldn’t let go.

The natural contenders for ‘mushrooms I have to find’ were undoubtedly The Morel and the St.Georges Mushroom. But as yet – no luck on either, even after many outings. Grrrr!

But in the garden and out in force though like some giant family outing, were a selection of the smaller Ink Caps – Fairies Bonnets (or Fairy Inkcap or Trooping Crumble Cap) (Coprinus disseminatus). They come out in their dozens or hundreds even! Very common and quite pretty to look at on the whole. They mass mainly around old stumps of broad-leaved trees and spread to nearby soil.

The caps vary only slightly in colour, from a pale buff brown or clay grey-like colour. They are very fragile and the gills start off white then turn grey-brown and eventually turning black.

Fairies Bonnet is a very apt name for these little beauties

Nearby, milling around in the short grass, I find the Fairy Parasol (or Pelated Ink Cap) (Coprinus plicatilis). Again, these are small and fragile, but don’t group in a large troop like our Fairy Bonnet.

The pale brown caps are thin and ribbed (similar to the Fairy Bonnet) and quite unusually for an Ink Cap, the cap eventually flattens out and shrivels up. It does not dissolve into a black ink. You will see these in short grass in lots of places from spring to early winter. They also like to grow near woodland herbs.

The black coloured gills show that these are older specimens

And again we have another common Corpinus family member – The Glistening Ink Cap (Coprinus micaceus). Definitely the larger and most interesting in this little collective due to the young bell-shaped ochre coloured caps are dusted with glistening, mica-like particles or grains (fairy dust I call it, just to keep us in the fairy theme!). Older specimens slightly curl and split at the cap edge. The gills, common to the ink caps, age from pale buff to brown and eventually black before dissolving into an inky fluid. (That’s when the fairies cry!). The white stems are darker in colour at the base. These are great little mushrooms and one to look out for. They’re about for most of the year, usually in dense groups on broad leaved tree stumps or feeding off dead tree roots.

Shine on! These pics were taken by my dad after maiming them while trimming the grass!

And to sign off, please that these mushrooms are all edible but the stone cold fact is that they are too insubstantial, bland in flavour and poor in texture. Hey ho!