We have read of
one, in the county of Essex, England, that measured 120 feet across. The
grass that covered it was coarse and of a dark green color. What causes
these fairy rings? An explanation is given in a newspaper extract from
"Knowledge," in which it is said: "A patch of spawn arising from a
single spore or a number of spores spreads centrifugally in every
direction, and forms a common circular felt, from which the fruit arises
at its extreme edge; the soil in the inner part of the disc is
exhausted, and the spawn dies or becomes effete there, while it spreads
all around in an outward direction and produces another crop whose spawn
spreads again. The circle is thus continually enlarged, and extends
indefinitely until some cause intervenes to destroy it. The peculiarity
of growth first arises from a tendency of certain fungi to assume a
circular form."
The perplexing mushroom, Hypholoma perplexum, often grows in clusters,
and so does the inky Coprinus, C. atramentarius, also the glistening
Coprinus, C.
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