- Author: Denise Godbout-Avant
What are Mushrooms?
Mushrooms, also known as toadstools, are the visible reproductive body of a fungus which produces spores. Mushrooms seem to magically appear and then quickly disappear. The fruiting body you see releases its spores to be spread by air currents, with the mushroom then drying up. When spores land in a satisfactory location they will germinate, sending out long filaments called hyphae.
The standard visible morphology of a mushroom is a stipe (stem) topped by a cap with gills on the underside, but mushrooms come in a variety of sizes, shapes, colors and uses. The common mushroom is the cultivated white button mushroom we see in stores. Other shapes include puffball, stinkhorn, morel, bolete, shelf, truffles, bird's nests, orange peel, and agarics. Colors vary from white, black, brown, yellow, and occasionally orange and reds. Sizes range from microscopic to 5 feet in diameter!
Many mushrooms also have an underground filament called mycelium (plural: mycelia). You can sometimes see mycelia when turning over a rotting log or by digging underneath a cluster of mushrooms. The mycelia will look like a stringy mat of white fibers in and around plant and tree roots.
History & Uses
The terms “mushroom” and “toadstool” go back centuries. Much of their mystery is due to their association with poisonings and accidental deaths. They were thought to be special and supernatural by many cultures including Egyptians and Romans who associated them with their rulers and gods. Chinese and Japanese cultures have utilized mushrooms for medicinal purposes for thousands of years. Hallucinogenic mushroom species have a history of use among Indigenous people of Mesoamerica for religious purposes and healing from pre-Columbian times. People today correlate hallucinogenic mushrooms with the hippie period in the 1960s. Edible mushroom species have been found in 13,000-year-old archaeological sites in Chile. Truffles have been collected as far back as 1600 BC.
Edible Mushrooms
Poisonous mushrooms can be very hard to identify in the wild, so unless you have been taught how to classify mushrooms by an expert, it is recommended you buy from a reliable grocery store. Mycologists identify mushrooms by observing their morphology, getting spore prints, microscopic study, and with mushroom keys, though applying DNA technology is becoming common.
You can also grow your own mushrooms at home – kits are available online and at some plant nurseries.
Mushrooms in Your Garden and Lawn
- Common mushrooms in gardens include inky caps, stinkhorns, puffballs, or bird's nests.
- A “fairy ring” of mushrooms is an arc of mushrooms around a circle of darker green lawn, often in shady areas. They get their name from an ancient belief that fairies danced in these circles around the mushrooms.
- Mushrooms in lawns often develop from buried scraps such as pieces of wood or dead tree roots.
- A cluster of honey-colored mushrooms may appear at the base of a tree in the fall. These don't usually appear unless the host tree is dying.
- New lawns require frequent irrigation until established, thus creating a perfect setting for mushrooms, which is why they often appear in freshly planted lawns.
Remember, the mushrooms you see are the fruiting bodies that produce spores. Thus, removing them will not kill the underground mycelia from which they are growing, unless you pick them prior to their release of spores. However, you can try to reduce the number of mushrooms you have by decreasing the amount and frequency of watering your lawn and let the grass dry in between. For more information in dealing with mushrooms in your lawn, visit the UC IPM website at http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74100.html
Whether you see mushrooms in the forest, in your lawn or neighborhood, I hope you can appreciate and enjoy these unique, complex, beautiful, valuable, diverse, and magical organisms!
-This article was originally published on December 6, 2021.
Denise Godbout-Avant has been a UCCE Stanislaus County Master Gardener since July 2020.
/h4>/h4>/h4>/h4>- Author: Gayle Nelson
By Penny Pawl, UC Master Gardener of Napa County
Occasionally you may see things sprouting around your garden that you know you did not plant. Are they mushrooms or toadstools, or is there perhaps another fungus among us?
Mushrooms and toadstools are all fungi and come from spores growing on decaying materials in your soil. They are working for you by breaking down decaying materials and adding to the health of your soil.
In the distant past, people believed that toads lived on toadstools, hence the name. People used the word “mushrooms” for edible types and “toadstools” for the types thought to be toxic. Scientifically, they are much alike. The mushroom is the fruiting body of the fungus, and the frilly gills underneath produce the spores. Unless you are very knowledgeable, do not eat any wild mushrooms; some are edible but many are poisonous.
Dr. Gordon Walker is a fungus expert. In a recent Zoom talk for Napa County Master Gardeners, he explained how fungi grow, their many benefits and the problems they can cause. On his Facebook page, Fascinated by Fungi, he explains where mushrooms grow, what types they are and if they can be eaten. He shows a lot of images of fungi growing right here in Napa County.
I have spread a lot of compost and bark in my yard over the years, and a variety of fungi have appeared. These decomposers are breaking down the mulch. Some fungi, such as Armillaria, grow on living trees. This fungus grows in wet soil and affects oak trees and other woody plants; it is also known as oak root fungus. If the roots or bark have been damaged from tilling or other injury, the fungus can take hold. By digging out the area around the trunk to let it dry, you can often stop the fungus infection. If not stopped, it can kill an oak tree. I live in a flood zone and this fungus also killed my birch trees within a few years. Flood waters carried it in and left it in the soil.
If you want to get rid of mushrooms and toadstools in a lawn, first clean up the area. Remove grass or leaf litter, add nitrogen to the soil and dispose of the mushrooms and toadstools. Do not put them in your compost pile. Move out any grass that may be left and move the soil around with a rake to expose and dry out any spores left behind.
Other fungi can attack the heartwood of an oak tree and kill the tree. Some attack the dead wood. There is nothing you can do once the fungus is inside the tree and has spread to the trunk. But to prevent it from spreading further, prune back all affected branches close to the branch collar. Once you see fungi on the trunk, they are inside the tree.
Mycorrhizae are beneficial fungi that grow on the roots of oaks and other trees. The fungi contribute to soil health. Mycorrhizae help with water uptake and the general health of the tree. It is a good practice to leave leaf litter around an oak to encourage mycorrhizae. It is important not to till near oak roots and disturb this fungus in the soil.
Slime mold is not a fungus, but it often appears during cool wet spring weather. It was once considered a fungus, but after more research it has been reclassified. There are more than 900 species of slime mold, and they grow on decaying material. While they are single-cell organisms, when food is scarce and conditions advantageous, they often converge and create a patch. These patches can be bright yellow, orange, brown or grey. Once they gather and create spores, they seem to dissolve and disappear within a few days. Slime molds, too, are part of healthy garden soil and reflect a living garden in springtime.
Food Growing Forum: Second Sunday of the month through November. Sunday, May 9, 3 pm to 4 pm: “Beans and Summer Pruning of Fruit Trees.” Register to get Zoom link: https://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=33586
Workshop: On Saturday, May 1, UC Master Gardeners of Napa County will hold a virtual workshop on “Flowers & Foliage for the House” from 10:00 am to noon. Learn about growing your own annuals and perennials for cutting and get tips on creating arrangements. Register to get the Zoom link: http://ucanr.edu/2021Flowers&FoliageMay
Library Talk: On Thursday, May 6, from 7 pm to 8 pm, UC Master Gardeners of Napa County will hold a virtual talk on “Right Tree, Right Place: Making Smart Tree Choices for Your Landscape.” Register to get the Zoom link: http://ucanr.edu/2021MayRtTreeRtPlace
Tree Walk: On Tuesday, May 11, from 10 am to noon, UC Master Gardeners of Napa County will host a docent-guided tree walk in Fuller Park in Napa. Group size is limited to seven. To register: https://bit.ly/2Qg3tib
Got Garden Questions? Contact our Help Desk. The team is working remotely so please submit your questions through our diagnosis form, sending any photos to mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org or leave a detailed message at 707- 253-4143. A Master Gardener will get back to you by phone or email.
For more information visit http://napamg.ucanr.edu or find us on Facebook or Instagram, UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
- Author: Michelle Le Strange
- Author: Carol A Frate
- Author: R. Michael Davis
Many people become concerned when mushrooms appear in their lawns; however, most mushroom-producing fungi in lawns are merely nuisance problems and don't cause lawn diseases. An exception is the fairy-ring mushroom, which can sometimes cause dead areas of grass by limiting water penetration to turf roots.
See the UC IPM Pest Note: Mushrooms and Other Nuisance Fungi in Lawns for information on managing and identifying many types of lawn mushrooms. It is illustrated with photographs of 13 common species.