Marasmius oreades

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Species of fungus

title: "Marasmius oreades" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["edible-fungi", "fungi-found-in-fairy-rings", "fungi-of-europe", "fungi-of-north-america", "marasmius"] description: "Species of fungus" topic_path: "general/edible-fungi" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marasmius_oreades" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Species of fungus ::

| image = Michigan_Marasmius_oreades.jpg | image_caption = | status = G5 | status_system = TNC | status_ref = | genus = Marasmius | species = oreades | authority = (Bolton) Fr (1836) | name = Marasmius oreades | whichGills = adnexed | capShape = convex | capShape2 = umbonate | hymeniumType=gills | stipeCharacter=bare | ecologicalType=saprotrophic | sporePrintColor=white | howEdible=choice

Marasmius oreades, also known as the fairy ring mushroom, fairy ring champignon or Scotch bonnet, is a mushroom native to North America and Europe. Its common names can cause confusion, as many other mushrooms grow in fairy rings, such as the edible Agaricus campestris and the poisonous Chlorophyllum molybdites. It also resembles some toxic species, but is itself a choice edible mushroom.

Description

The cap is 1–5 cm across; it is bell-shaped with a somewhat inrolled margin at first, becoming broadly convex with an even or uplifted margin. It usually retains a slight central bump and is dry, smooth, pale tan or buff (occasionally white), or reddish tan; it usually changes color markedly as it dries out; the margin is sometimes faintly lined.

The bare, pallid, and tough stem grows up to about 2-6 cm tall and 2-6 mm in diameter.

The gills are attached to the stem or free from it, fairly thick and spaced apart, and white or pale tan, with a cyanide-like odor and producing a white spore print. The spores measure 7–10 μm × 4–6 μm; they are smooth, elliptical, and inamyloid. Cystidia are absent. The pileipellis is without broom cells.

|Michigan_Marasmius_oreades_black_background.jpg|Undersides

Similar species

It can resemble M. nigrodiscus.

This mushroom can be mistaken for the toxic Clitocybe dealbata or C. rivulosa, which have closely spaced decurrent gills. The latter lacks an umbo and is white to grey in color.

Some species of the Collybia, Marasmiellus, Micromphale, and Strobilurus genera are also similar, sometimes requiring microscopic analysis to differentiate.

Distribution and habitat

Marasmius oreades grows extensively throughout North America, especially the east where they are also more diverse, and Europe in the summer and autumn (May–November in the UK), or year-round in warmer climates. It appears in grassy areas such as lawns, meadows, and even dunes in coastal areas.

It grows gregariously in troops, arcs, or rings (type II, which causes the grass to grow and become greener).

Edibility

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Marasmius_oreades_string.jpg" caption="A dried string of the caps"] ::

Aside from its similarity to toxic species, M. oreades is a choice edible mushroom. Mycologist David Arora calls it "one of the few [little brown mushrooms] worth learning". The mushroom reportedly has a firm, chewy texture and a meaty, spicy flavor. The mushrooms can be stored dry.

Traditionally, the stems (which tend to be fibrous and unappetizing) are cut off and the caps are threaded and dried in strings. While used in foods such as soups and stews, its sweet taste lends it to baked goods such as cookies. The sweet taste may be due to the presence of trehalose, a type of sugar that allows the mushroom to resist death by desiccation. When exposed to water after being completely dried out, the trehalose is digested as the cells completely revive, causing cellular processes, including the creation of new spores, to begin again.

References

References

  1. "''Marasmius oreades''".
  2. (2023). "Fungi of Aotearoa: a curious forager's field guide". Penguin Books.
  3. [http://www.mushroomexpert.com/marasmius_oreades.html Marasmius oreades] (MushroomExpert.com)
  4. (2009). "Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest". Timber Press.
  5. (2012). "Field Guide to Mushrooms of Western North America". [[University of California Press]].
  6. [[Audubon]]. (2023). "Mushrooms of North America". [[Knopf]].
  7. Francis-Baker, Tiffany. (2021). "Concise Foraging Guide". [[Bloomsbury Publishing.
  8. (2006). "North American Mushrooms: A Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi". [[FalconGuide]].
  9. Arora, David. (1986). "Mushrooms Demystified: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fleshy Fungi". [[Ten Speed Press]].
  10. Russell, Bill. (2006). "Field Guide to Wild Mushrooms of Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic". Pennsylvania State University Press.
  11. [http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/mar2003.html Marasmius oreades, the fairy ring mushroom, leprechaun.] Tom Volk's Fungus of the Month for March 2003

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