Marasmius oreades (Bolton :Fr.) Fr. Epicr. Syst. Mycol 375 (1838)

Image © Fred Stevens Reproduced by permission Common Name: Fairy Ring Mushroom, Fairy Ring Champignon, Scotch Bonnets

A rather undistinguished looking mushroom. Its caps vary from from biscuit to shades of yellow, brown or pink and usually have a broad umbo or central dome. Their gills are deep, well spaced and white to buff, producing copious white spores. The stem is tough and pliable. It could be confused with the poisonous Clitocybe dealbata but its gills are not decurrent [running down to the stem]. C. dealbata also has thin, crowded gills and has no umbo.

• Pileus/cap

  10-50 mm diameter. Bell shaped at first, then convex, becoming flattened and irregular with large brown umbo or dome. Pinkish tan when moist but drying to biscuit with brown still at centre. Flesh thick at centre of cap, cream to yellowish brown. Pliant. Surface matt, smooth, dry. Margin striate, turns upwards at maturity, showing gills. Flesh whitish, thin, leathery. Can be dried and reconstituted and shed spores.

• Lamellae/gills

  White then cream then light brown/ochre. Moderately distant. Broad. Adnexed to just free.

• Stipe/stem

  20-100 mm high, 3-5 mm wide. Whitish then biscuit brown. Tough, rigid. Slightly rooting base. Covered with whitish down.

• Volva

• Ring

• Smell

• Spores

  Spore print white

• Habitat

• References

  Fuhrer, B. Field Companion to Australian Fungi p. 55 Arora, D. [1986]. Mushrooms Demystified. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley. p. 208, 209, Plates 38, 47 Cleland, J.B. [1934-1935]. Toadstools and Mushrooms and Other Larger Fungi of South Australia, Parts I and II. Government Printer, Adelaide [Reprint 1976]. As Tricholoma nudum p. 30, 165 Grgurinovic, C.A. [1997]. Larger Fungi of South Australia. The Botanic Gardens of Adelaide and State Herbarium and The Flora and Fauna of South Australia Handbooks Committtee p. 247, 248 Hall, I., Buchanan, P.K., Yun, W. & Cole, A.L.J. [1998]. Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms. An Introduction. Caxton Press, Christchurch, N.Z. p. 89, 90 Laessoe, T., Del Conte, A.& Lincoff, G. [1996]. The Mushroom Book. DK Publishing Inc. p. 108 McCarthy, P. [Ed.] [1997]. Fungi of Australia. Volume 1A. Introduction - Classification. CSIRO, Australia. p. 166 Phillips, R. [1981]. Mushrooms and other fungi of Great Britain & Europe. Pan Books. p. 66 Ramsbottom, J. [1954]. Mushrooms and Toadstools. The New Naturalist Series, Collins. Frontispiece, p. 103, 89& 99 & 122info, Shepherd, C.J. and Totterdell C.J. [1988]. Mushrooms and Toadstools of Australia. Inkata Press. p. 79 Willis, J.H. [1963]. Victorian Toadstools and Mushrooms. The Field Naturalists Club of Victoria. p. 64, 65, 66 Young, A.M. [1982]. Common Australian Fungi. New South Wales University Press. p. 92, 93

Distribution map

Last modified on 28 May 2001

Maintained by Mike McBain

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