Ring remnants

Why does a ring turn into "remnants"?

M.Ya. Zerova explains in her "Key to the Fungi of Ukraine" that how long a ring lasts depends on the material it was made of. In Agaricus mushrooms the ring is dense and leathery, and it lasts until the mushroom is old. In many other species, however, it consists of thin slime or loose mycelium.

David Arora and Roger Phillips single out several groups of mushrooms that typically have only faint ring remnants:

1. Slippery jacks (especially Suillus granulatus): In some Suillus species the ring is so delicate and slimy that all that remains of it is a dark band stuck to the stem or wart-like remnants.

2. Roundheads (Stropharia): For example, the verdigris agaric has a very fragile ring that quickly disappears, leaving only a faint mark or a dark band of spores on the stem.

3. Sheathed woodtuft (Kuehneromyces mutabilis): It has a membranous ring, but it quickly dries out, darkens and presses against the stem, looking simply like a change in the color of the stem's surface.

The danger of a vanished ring

Judging "remnants" is one of a forager's most important skills. If the ring has been washed off by rain or has fallen off with age, a barely noticeable trace always remains on the stem: a ridge, a change in texture (the stem is smooth above the mark and fibrous below), or a thin layer of dark spores that managed to fall on it.

Failing to recognize ring remnants is the cause of many poisonings. For example, an old death cap (Amanita phalloides) that has lost its ring to bad weather looks at first glance like a "mushroom without a ring" (like a brittlegill). But a careful look at the stem will reveal a pale ridge — a remnant of the veil.