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FIELD BOTANY ii 



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Edited by Dr. H. A. Gleason. Urbana, III. (j^ 



FAIRY RINGS. 



WE all know what a fairy ring is, a mysterious circle of 

 mushrooms that springs up as if by magic in some 

 meadow or lawn, and excites the wonder or imagination of 

 many people who see it but cannot explain. One might make 

 a very interesting collection of the folk-lore which is connected 

 with them. A mushroom fairy ring persists for a long time. 

 It re-appears regularly in its due season, and gradually in- 

 creases in diameter until finally parts of the circle die, and the 

 few mushrooms remaining give one but little idea of the sym- 

 metry and regularity of the original ring. 



The actual cause of the fairy ring is the growth of the 

 underground parts always azvay from the center and never fo- 

 zvard it. Just why the mushroom should behave in this manner 

 is not entirely clear. Two theories have received a good deal 

 of attention ; one, that the food supply has been exhausted with- 

 in the circle, compelling the plants to move outward into fresh 

 earth, and another that the plant has excreted a poison into 

 the soil, which prevents it from growing again in the same 



place. 



The fairy ring of mushrooms is the best known because 

 of their large size and their sudden and mysterious appearance, 

 but it is by no means the only kind. In general, any plant 

 which spreads regularly in all directions and dies out in the 

 middle may form rings, and one needs only keep a sharp look- 

 out to find many dififerent kinds, produced by a large variety 

 of plants. 



The smallest fairy rings which I have seen this summer 

 were made by an orange-brown lichen growing on limestone 



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