Botanical atlas

Fairy Ring Mushroom

Marasmius oreades

Long before anyone called it umami, cooks across the British Isles and continental Europe were threading these little caps onto string to dry over the hearth, prizing them for a flavor far bigger than their size suggests. The mushroom's true fame, though, comes from the ground it grows on. The dark green arcs and full circles it leaves behind in old pastures and village greens were, for centuries, read as the dance floors of fairies, and finding one was met with equal parts wonder and caution. Country folk generally left the rings undisturbed, believing it unlucky to plow through fairy ground, even as they happily gathered the mushrooms growing along its edge. This entry covers a wild fungus rather than an herb, so it belongs in the kitchen and the meadow rather than the medicine cabinet.

Safety.

Fairy ring mushroom has dangerous look-alikes, including small white Clitocybe species that cause serious, sometimes fatal, poisoning if mistaken for it. Never eat this or any wild mushroom unless identified with certainty by an expert.