Fungi

OK, I know you guys are like, 'Dawn, really...', but honestly I think this is pretty fascinating stuff. Every once in a while during my travels I've spied a mushroom ring or two and always thought they were pretty cool, though I didn't know why they grew in circles. Well, when we moved down here to Georgia and it started warming up, a veritable mushroom forest has sprung from the lawns of our apartments. Not altogether surprising really, we do live in a swamp and they seem to really enjoy the muggy, warm, rainy stuff and just got nuts...well, nuts for a mushroom. Anyway, I've taken a few pictures of our local rings for your enjoyment and included an interesting blurb about them I found on the internet.

I call this one Papa Ring because its big and its got big mushrooms...

This one is Mama Ring, she is right next to Papa Ring and they kind of grow into each other.

These are some more rings I stumbled upon while I was making some kabobs the other day at the grilling area.

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.The living edge of the mycelium continues to grow outward. As it grows, it secretes chemicals into the ground ahead. These chemicals break down the organic matter, releasing nutrients so that the mycelium will have food when it reaches this area. For a brief time, the grass at the outer edge of the ring also benefits. The extra nutrients make the grass darker green, taller, and thicker than the rest of the lawn or pasture. This lush grass dies when the mycelium grows under it and steals the nutrients. Fairy rings made by fungi like Marasmius oreades are called "free" rings. They will continue to grow outward until a barrier is reached. Sometimes the barrier is another fairy ring! Rings can grow into each other's territory and die as each reaches the other's "dead zone." If there are no barriers, free rings can grow outward at up to 8 inches (20 cm) per year. They can reach a diameter of over 30 feet (10 m). One ring formed in France by the fungus Clitocybe geotropa is almost a half mile (600 m) in diameter. This ring is thought to be 700 years old.