Fairy Rings

Photo courtesy Clemson University - USDA Cooperative Extension Slide Series

Fairy rings are circles which appear in fields or woods, consisting of a ring of mushrooms, luxuriantly-green grass, dead grass, or all three in combination. Appearing as if by magic, fairy rings were long attributed to supernatural forces (see below). It wasn’t until 1792 that Shropshire doctor and amateur naturalist William Withering, developed a scientific explanation. Carefully trenching across the radius of several rings, the good doctor noticed that they were always associated with white, root-like masses, which he knew to be the spoor of mushrooms (Withering also discovered the first heart drug, Digitalis).

Fairy rings form as an individual fungus begins to grow outward from a central point, perhaps a successful spore. Some fairy rings are thought to be coenocytic, which means that the entire structure is composed of one giant cell, though it contains many many different nuclei. As the fungal hyphae expand throught the soil, they liberate nitrogen, which may cause a lush ring of green grass to grow. However, the grass in the interior of the ring may turn brown, as the fungus depletes nutrients. The mass of hyphae can also render the soil impermeable to water. Great efforts are devoted to killing fairy rings in sports fields and golf courses, usually without much success.

Fairy rings are referred to as either “tethered” or “free”. Because the hyphae of mycorrhizal fungi exist in a symbiotic relationsip with tree roots, any rings they form are “tethered” the host tree. The fairy rings found in lawns and fields, on the other hand, are formed by saprophytic fungi, which digest dead organic matter in the soil. These rings are “free” to spread where they will. Fifty or so fungi have been show to grow in a fairy ring pattern. The Scotch bonnet, or "fairy ring mushroom" (Marasmius oreades) is perhaps the most abundant and best-known, being found in lawns and parks world-wide. A fairy ring discovered in France has a diameter of 800 meters, and is thought to be over 700 years old.

Fairy Ring Folklore

Fairy rings are found worldwide, of course; and every culture seems to have come up with its own explanation for this curious phenomenon. The term itself reflects the old English belief that the rings are the work of “little people” (fairies, elves, pixies, et c.), dancing in the forest. The withered grass in the center of the ring was the dance floor, and the ring of mushrooms a place for spectators to sit. A variation on this theme sees fairy rings as magical portals into the fairies' underground world. Someone stepping into a fairy ring might be transported to another place or time. This notion became a commonplace of English fairytales, and oddly presages the astrophysical concept of a “wormhole”.

In Scandinavia, little people are also given credit for the rings, but elsewhere on the Continent, the phenomenon generally had darker interpretations. The German phrase Hexenringe ("witches' rings"), reflects the idea that the rings mark spots where a witches’ covens have gathered. In Holland it was said that they formed where the the Devil rested his milk churn on his nocturnal wanderings. In parts of Eastern Europe, the belief was that that dragons had rested in the rings, or that their breath had scorched the earth.

Fairy rings are still present in our modern, virtual mythological landscape. making appearances in the massively popular “massively multiplayer online role-playing games”, including Ultima Online and RuneScape.

The fairy ring images in this post are from watercolor paintings by the English artist Hester Margetson. They were used in a popular series of postcards published by Vivian Mansell, London, in the 1920s. If you are interested in purchasing prints or posters of these or other antique mushroom images, please contact the blogger!