Growth habit

Fairy ring mushrooms

Fairy ring mushrooms grow in a circle or an arc on lawns, in meadows and in woods, and this page gathers every species in our catalogue known to fruit in rings. The best known is the fairy ring champignon (Marasmius oreades), an edible lawn mushroom, but the poisonous fool's funnel often grows in rings on the same grass. A ring tells you how a fungus grows, never whether it is safe to eat.

24 species in the database.

How does a fairy ring form?

The fungus lives in the soil as a web of fine threads, the mycelium, which spreads outward from one point in every direction. When the food in the centre runs out, the middle dies off, and only the living edge keeps growing and pushing up mushrooms. That is why the mushrooms stand in a ring, and why the ring gets wider every year.

The grass often shows the ring even when no mushrooms are up. Some rings have a narrow outer band of dead or weak grass with a band of darker green grass beside it, some have only the dark green band, and some leave the grass unchanged and appear only when the mushrooms come up (Zotti et al., 2025). The dead band comes from the mat of mycelium, which repels water so the grass dries out. The green band comes from nitrogen that the fungus releases as it breaks down organic matter.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) gives about 30 cm of growth a year for fairy ring champignon rings, which can last for hundreds of years in large lawns. A ring of the trooping funnel (Infundibulicybe geotropa) near Belfort in France measures several hundred metres across and is thought to be around 700 years old.

Folk names link the rings to fairies, elves and witches across Europe. English has fairy ring, fairy circle, elf ring and pixie ring. In French they are witches' circles (ronds de sorcières), in German witches' rings (Hexenringe) and in Italian cerchio delle streghe. The science came later: in 1807 the chemist Wollaston was among the first to link the green grass of a ring to fungi growing below the ground.

Free and tethered rings: lawns and woods

Mycologists divide fairy rings into two kinds. Free rings grow in open grassland, made by fungi that feed on dead plant matter, such as the fairy ring champignon, field mushrooms and blewits. Tethered rings grow in woods and depend on trees: the fungus lives in partnership with tree roots, as the fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) and the knights (Tricholoma) do. More than a hundred kinds of fungi have been recorded forming rings (Zotti et al., 2025).

Fairy ring champignon (Marasmius oreades)

This is the mushroom most people mean by a fairy ring, and it is common on lawns, in parks and in pastures across Europe, including Britain and Ireland. Its tan to buff cap is 2 to 5 cm across and usually keeps a broad bump in the centre. The white to cream gills are widely spaced, and the thin stem is tough and bends without snapping. It fruits from late spring or early summer to late autumn, and it can dry out in the sun and swell back after rain. It is edible; cooks use the caps and discard the tough stems.

Poisonous mushrooms in the same ring: fool's funnel and ivory funnel

The fool's funnel (Clitocybe rivulosa) and the ivory funnel (Clitocybe dealbata) are small, whitish mushrooms of lawns, verges and parks, and they also grow in fairy rings. Many experts now treat them as one species. They contain muscarine.

They differ from the champignon in several features at once: a whitish, floury cap with no central bump, crowded gills that run slightly down the stem, and a stiffer stem. First Nature advises extra care from midsummer, when these funnels start to appear in the same places as the champignon. Check every single mushroom you pick, not just the first few.

Sweating, tears and drooling within 15 minutes to 2 hours of a mushroom meal are signs of muscarine poisoning: call 112 (999 in the UK) straight away. Doctors have an antidote.

Which other mushrooms grow in rings?

Edible species on this page include the field mushroom (Agaricus campestris), the horse mushroom (Agaricus arvensis), St George's mushroom (Calocybe gambosa), the giant puffball (Calvatia gigantea), the trooping funnel, the common funnel (Infundibulicybe gibba), the field blewit (Collybia personata) and the meadow waxcap (Cuphophyllus pratensis). The wood blewit (Lepista nuda) and the shaggy parasol (Chlorophyllum rhacodes) are classed as conditionally edible.

Poisonous and inedible species grow in rings too. The yellow stainer (Agaricus xanthodermus) looks like a field mushroom, but its stem base turns bright chrome yellow within seconds when cut. The fly agaric forms rings in woods. The white knight (Tricholoma album) causes serious stomach upsets, and the clouded funnel (Clitocybe nebularis) upsets some people even after cooking.

Cut every giant puffball from top to bottom: it is edible only while the inside is pure white, with no outline of a cap or gills.

How to get rid of fairy rings in a lawn

According to the RHS, most ring fungi do little harm to grass; the fairy ring champignon does the most damage. Picking the mushrooms off does not help. Digging the ring out works, removing turf and soil to at least 30 cm and replacing them, but it is rarely practical. Where grass dies in dry weather, spiking the lawn, watering, feeding and wetting agents help water soak in again. The RHS notes that home gardeners in the UK have no fungicide for fairy rings.

Questions and answers

What causes a fairy ring?

A fairy ring forms because the fungus spreads outward through the soil from one point while the centre dies off, so mushrooms come up only at the living edge. The ring often shows in the grass as a band of dead grass beside a band of darker green grass.

What mushrooms grow in a fairy ring?

More than a hundred kinds of fungi form rings, including the fairy ring champignon, field and horse mushrooms, St George's mushroom, the giant puffball, blewits and the fly agaric. Poisonous species such as the fool's funnel grow in rings too.

Are fairy ring mushrooms poisonous?

Some are and some are not: growing in a ring says nothing about whether a mushroom is safe. The edible fairy ring champignon often shares lawns with the fool's funnel, which contains muscarine.

How do you tell Marasmius oreades from the fool's funnel?

The fairy ring champignon has a central bump on the cap, widely spaced gills and a thin stem that bends without snapping. The fool's funnel is whitish with no bump, crowded gills running slightly down the stem and a stiffer stem; check every mushroom you pick.

How old can a fairy ring be?

Fairy ring champignon rings grow about 30 cm a year and can last for hundreds of years in large lawns. A trooping funnel ring near Belfort in France is thought to be around 700 years old.

How do you get rid of fairy rings in a lawn?

The only way to remove a ring is to dig out the turf and soil to at least 30 cm and replace them, which is rarely practical. Where grass dies, spiking, watering, feeding and wetting agents help water soak in again.