MANNER OF GROWTH. 25 



The waxy Clitocybe, C. laccata, is not spoken 

 of as having that mode of growth in circles, 

 but we have seen many of these mushrooms 

 appearing in arcs of circles, and forming almost 

 perfect rings, particularly after showers of rain, 

 and always on the sides of roads. 



Many fairy rings have lasted for years and 

 are very old. 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 de- 

 stroy it. The peculiarity of growth first arises 

 from a tendency of certain fungi to assume a cir- 

 cular form." 



