Mushrooms in lawns

Lawns and meadows are the favored habitat of alarge variety of wild mushrooms that usuallyappear in late summer and fall. These mushroomssometimes cause concern, whether it be fear ofsmall children or pets eating them or simply be­cause they create on unsightly appearance. Butfor those who know mushrooms, some speciescan provide a tasty addition to the menu whileavoiding those that are undesirable andpoisonous.

Amanita muscaria - Poisonous

Fairy ring mushrooms

The "fairy ring mushroom" (Marasm;us oreades) isone of the commonest of the lawn mushrooms. Itgets its name from its habit of growing in circleswhich may cause unsightly rings of dark greengrass around a zone of dying grass. The littlemushrooms are 2-5 cm broad, buff tan to nearlywhite when dry with a tough, fibrous stem; the gillsunder the rounded cap are whitish buff and ratherdistant from each other. Although these mush­rooms are edible and good, most property ownersseek ways to eliminate the unsightly rings in thelawn.

Marasmius oreades - "Fairy ring" - Edible

Suppression and control

Suppression and Control of Fairy Ring Mushrooms

Method 1. Fertilizer and Water

Spike the fairy ring to a depth of 25 cm with agarden fork at 10-15 cm intervals. Water in nitro­gen fertilizer (chemical). Water spiked area dailyfor 4-8 weeks.

Method 2. Fu ngicidal Drench

Some commercial fungicides, applied in water so­lution according to instructions on the packagemay reduce mushroom production, but few haveany effect on the spawn in the turf and soil or ineradication.

Method 3. Soil fumigation.

A drastic treatment using formaldehyde solutionunder polyethylene sheets which should be under­taken only under direction of experienced hand­Ier. This treatment can effectively eradicate thefu ngus.

CanadaPacific Forest Research Centre,

506 West Burnside Rd., Victoria, B.C., V8Z 1M5

Sweat producing Clitocybe

A poisonous mushroom that sometimes grows inassociation with the "fairy ring" is the "sweat­producing Clitocybe". It is about the same size,but is grayish-white with closely set gills thatextend down the stem. Any collections of mush­rooms for food should be individually checked fordangerous "Iook-alikes."

Calbovista subsculpta - Puffballs are edible if pure whiteand homogeneous inside.

Smooth Lepiota

The beautiful, pure-white "smooth Lepiota"(Lepiota naucina) is quite common in lawns andhas a rounded cap up to 20 cm broad. It is ediblefor most people, but because it so closely resem­bles the very dangerous white Amanitas, greatcare should be taken or entirely avoided. Thewhite gills, annulus and bulbous base on the stemare notable features fou nd both in the "smoothlepiota" and in Amanita.

Lepiota naucina

- Edible but resemblespoisonous white Amanitas

Coprinus mushrooms Meadow mushrooms Mushrooms and forests Precautions

A few precautions in using wild mushrooms.

~ Do not use mushrooms from lawns recentlysprayed with pesticides.

~ There are no simple tests which tell you whichmushroom is poisonous. Discard any mush­rooms not positively identified.

~ Eat small amounts at first to see if there is anyreaction.

• Contact your local poison control group ifdiscomfort follows eating.

t Lepiota rachodes - "Shaggy Lepiota" - Edible

Mushrooms, whose true habitat is the forest, oftenappear in lawns because trees are growing near­by. All trees have symbiotic fungi that associatewith the roots, and in the fall the mushroom fruitsemerge in the grass near the trees. This group ofmushrooms, called mycorrhizal, would not befound in open lawns or meadows where there wereno trees. Some mycorrhizal mushrooms are good,but the deadly Amanitas and other dangerousmushrooms are also in this group.

- Agaricus arvensis - "Horse mushroom" - Edible

Amanita muscaria ­Poisonous. Comes up in lawnsbut is always associatedwith nearby conifers.

The "meadow mushroom" or "pink bottom" (Agari­cus campestris) may be found in lawns but is mostcommon in meadows where horses and cattle arekept. This mushroom is closest to the domesticmushroom of commerce, with a silky white capusually 8-10 em in diameter and gills that arebright pink when young, becoming dark brown atmaturity. The "horse mushroom" (Agaricus arven­sis) occurs in a similar habitat, but is larger, withgills that are beige to light pink when young. Thesetwo mushrooms are among the best edibles of allthe wild species.

Agaricus campestris - "Meadow mushroom" - Edible

Coprinus comatus"Shaggy mane"Edible-

Coprinus atramentarius- "Inky cap" - Edible but poisonousif consumed with alcohol

Two species of Coprinus mushrooms are commonin grassy areas - the "shaggy mane" (Coprinuscomatus) and the "inky cap" (Coprinus atramen­tarius). In both of these the gills dissolve into aninky black fluid when mature and are very unsight­ly. However, both are edible when young, althoughthe "inky cap" should not be consumed with al­coholic beverages. The "shaggy mane" is distinc­tive with its tall, white, barrel-shape covered withshaggy scales. The "inky cap" is smooth, leadgray and con ical.