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Nancy Sullivan, Lawn Care for Your Home, 1988
LAWN DISEASES.
If your lawn is diseased, it most likely has ben attacked by a fungus. Watch for signs of disease in hot, humid weather when fungus grows faster. Lawn disease can be spread by wind, water, and grass clippings. There are many different types of lawn diseases. Some of the most common are: fairy ring — large dry spot; toadstools may appear in ring; powdery mildew — grass appears as if it were sprinkled with flour; leaf spot — tiny spots or lesions on grass blades; rust — grass has reddish brown, reddish yellow or orange-yellow appearance; snow mold — spots of white, pink, reddish-white, or gray in lawn along fences or shady areas.
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Plant Disease Reporter, 1968
CONTROL OF FAIRY RING DISEASE OF THE CULTIVATED CRANBERRY.
B.M. Zuckerman, K.M. Rochefort, and G.B. Rounsville.
Summary.
Fairy ring has hitherto been an exceedingly difficult disease to control. In the experiments reported in this paper, very good control of the fairy ring disease was obtained with ferbam, applied in the fall immediately after harvest, as a drench at the rat of 6.84 lb. (actual)/100 gallops of water, one gallon per square foot, with treatments up to 3 feet outside and 2 feet within the ring.
INTRODUCTION.
Parasitism of the cultivated cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) by the fungus Psilocybe agrariella Atk., var. vaccinii Charles results in a disease called fairy ring. The fungus is a root parasite, but the manner in which it attacks the root system has not been studied. A brief reference to the symptoms of the disease, as described by Shear, Stevens, and Bain, is necessary to an understanding of the control measure reported here. Shear, et al. write as follows: "The first sign of the disease is a small area of dead or weak vines in a bog. … the area of dead vines advances outward in all directions at a rate of 1 to 1 1/2 feet per year. When the dead area reaches a diameter of from 4 to 6 feet, the middle usually becomes vined over with healthy cranberry plants, thus forming the ring …. As the mycelium of the fungus advances outward, the ring increases in size, and the dying out of the fungus growth of previous years permits the cranberry vines to grow back inside the ring." It should also be noted that during the period of vine regrowth, the area within the ring frequently becomes heavily infested with weeds, with the result that the productivity of the bog is significantly decreased.
A more recent observation concerning this disease and related to changing cultural practices must be cited. Prior to the advent of mechanical harvesting machines, fairy ring was a disease of fairly minor importance, since very few bogs were affected and those affected generally had only a small number of rings. When picking machines came into general use in the 1950s, however, the fairy ring disease quickly assumed a more serious aspect on many bogs. The reason for this change was that the picking machine frequently uproots vines and carries them, and the adhering soil, for distances often in excess of 50 feet. Thus, after a machine passes through a diseased area, the fungus is often transferred to areas of healthy vines, where it soon initiates a new fairy ring. In extreme cases an acre of bog may, within a period of 2 to 1 years, exhibit 10 or more newly-started rings.
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Blanche Jennings Thompson, The Golden Trumpets, 1927 [Fiction.]
Page 36: Whenever the golden trumpets sound in Fairyland, it means that all the fairies must hurry to the Fairy Ring. The Fairy Ring is a circle on the grass where the fairies hold their councils.
When they hear the call of the golden trumpets, all the fairies fly as fast as ever they can to the sting place. They know that something important must have happened. The King and Queen sit on their thrones and everyone waits to hear the news.
Page 38: One evening, just at sunset, the golden trumpets sounded. The fairies all hurried, as usual, to the Fairy Ring. They thought something dreadful must have happened. They were right. Something dreadful had happened. Coralwing was lost!
The King and Queen sat on their thrones very solemn. Peachbloom and Cobweb were there, looking very much frightened. Father Fairy and Mother Fairy were there. They were very much frightened too.
Page 39: The Herald came forward and blew three times on his trumpet. All the fairies kept still as mice and listened.
“Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye!” said the Herald. “The very littlest boy fairy is lost. He has not been seen since noon. Go, fairies, east and west and north and south. Do not stop until Coralwing is found. When you find him, come back to the Fairy Ring and let the golden trumpets sound. Then we shall know that Coralwing is safe.”
Page 41: The fireflies and glowworms came to help, for it was now getting quite dark. Suddenly the trumpets sounded and everyone hurried back at once to the Fairy Ring. There was Coralwing, still much frightened and with very badly crumpled wings.
Page 82: Every year on Midsummer’s Eve, the fairies have a great feast. It is called the Feast of Flowers. Out on the velvety grass, in the midst of the Fairy Ring, there stands a tall throne.
Just at twilight, all the golden trumpets sound and the procession begins. It is a very wonderful sight.
Page 155: Silver pennies, silver pennies!
Sometimes in a Fairy Ring,
On a sudden you will find one
Where there wasn’t anything.
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Gaylord Johnson, The Sky Movies, 1922 [Fiction.]
Page 1: “O, look!” cried Paul, “a regular circus ring of toadstools!”
“There’s ‘most a million!” exclaimed Peter, “at least, ‘most a hundred — or fifty!”
“Ooo! It’s a Fairy Ring!” breathed Betty in a loud stage whisper, while she looked expectantly through the gathering dusk for any of the Little People who might be about.
Page 2: Not seeing any, however, she confided to Peter and Paul,
“Uncle Henry told me to watch for a Fairy Ring when we got up here at Grandpa’s. Uncle Henry says that if you stand in a Fairy Ring, and wish and wish, awful hard, to truly know all ‘bout everything that you want to know ‘bout, that you will know.”
“Humph!” said Peter, with the disdain of eleven years for the credulity of eight.
Page 3: Then, while the twin boys held their breaths in half-scared expectancy, Betty stepped confidently into the wide, grassy, magic circle of dim white umbrellas, into the enchanted Fairy Ring, and stood — waiting in simple faith for her beloved Uncle Henry’s prophecy to be fulfilled.
The boys gazed silently for a full minute, looking first at Betty and then at the Young Lady Moon. Nothing happened. Then they heard Betty murmur,
“I’ve always wondered about you, Lady Moon — I’m wondering now — why you’re slim — and why you grow full — and why —“
Page 4: Straight across the Stump Meadow toward the Fairy Ring they came — while the whirring grow louder, and the soft glads grew brighter.
There times round the heads of the bewildered children the swarm of fireflies flew — and three times they circled a low stump just inside the Fairy Ring — then back for Grandfather’s Woods — like a flight of tiny illuminated aeroplanes.
The children were all gazing open-mouthed after them when they heard the merriest little laugh — and it seemed to come from almost under their feet!
Page 6: “I like you,” said Betty impulsively, “but you certainly talk so — so — well, I mean —“
Betty had started to say something quite impolite, and didn’t quite know how to finish.
“Odd me!” cried Puck, “first you stand in a Fairy Ring, and wonder about Lady Luna — and then think I’m deft when I come! I know well I’m not crazy — I’m the Answer — the Answer to your ‘wondering’ — the slave of every Fairy Wonder Ring in the wide world’s meadows — I’m The Joy of Finding Out Things. I sat on Columbus’ shoulder when h saw the New World’s land; I took the first peep though his new telescope with Galileo; I watched with Edison, while his first electric light bulb glowed, then brightened and shone.
“They were all called crazy too, but they didn’t care, for they had me — the Answer to their wonderings — The Joy of Finding Out Something New.”
Page 7: “Please Mr. — ah — sir —“ began Betty.
“Call me Puck — ’twill do,” said the little man in green.
“Please, then, Mr. Puck, did Mr. Edison stand in a Fairy Ring and ask to know about the electric light?”
“Certainly, whether he knew it or not!” cried Puck. “ No answer ever comes to the wonderings of man or child — except in a Fairy Ring! That’s why men who delight to walk much in the fields to think are the ones who so often find out marveling new things. It’s because — sooner or later — thy walk into a Fairy Ring — a Wonder Ring — and the Answer to all their wondering comes to them there.”
Page 16: Just then the breeze shook the branches of one of the apple trees at the edge of the cornfield, and something dropped lightly on Paul’s head and bound to the ground between the children.
They thought it was a small, green baby apple, when, of a sudden, Puck’s squirrel-ilke, chattering laugh came up from under their very feet. It was really Puck, quite plainly to be seen, in spite of the fact that the children were not in the Fairy Ring at all.
“Where did you come from?” cried Betty. “Oh, how you scared me!”
“I brought the right answer,” piped the little green man with the puckery face. “The right answer shouldn’t frighten anybody. The only time when terrible things begin to happen is when you say ‘twice seven is sixteen.’”
Page 20: The children, and Betty particularly, could hardly wait until evening to tell Puck the answer to the riddle of Luna Moon’s bow.
“I bet that he knows already that we guessed it all by ourselves,” said Paul, as the three walks across the Stump Meadow toward the Fairy Ring after supper. “I sort of felt him around when I was drawing the arrows into Otto’s first and last quarter bows.”
Page 21: Just then the children reached the Ring, Peter carrying the lantern, Betty ‘Rags’’ white rubber ball, and Paul his own head. All were full of curiosity as to what Mr. Puck could possibly want with these three objects.
When the children were still outside the Fairy Ring they saw nothing of Puck in or out of it, but the moment they had crossed its magic edge there he was, sitting cross-legged on the mossy stump. His eyes were wide, like those of a sleepwalker, his lips were moving, and he stared dreamily at the moon. He seemed not to notice the arrival of the children and talked to himself, half aloud, in a strange language that they know was neither French nor German.
Page 64: The fairy ring picture is used in our book by permission of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Page 65: FOURTH REEL. ….. When the children had arrived at Grandfather’s house from the Fariy Ring, after Mr. Puck had helped them to know the truth about Istar, the Moon Princess, they had a pleasant surprise.
Just as they had come into the barnyard with their lighted lantern, Grandfather had driven in, riding in his buggy, with “Molly” pulling it; and sitting beside Grandfather was Uncle Henry!
Page 66: “The whole sky seems to turn around us and move over us from East to West. How did people prove for sure that it’s really the earth turning the other way that makes the stars and sun and moon rise and move across and set?”
“Let’s try and find out tomorrow,” said Uncle Henry. “We’ll go out and stand in the Fairy Ring and wonder real hard — and maybe Puck will bring the answer to us.”
“All right,” cried Betty, “let’s!”
The boys agreed, so Uncle Henry went in and to bed, for he was tired from his trip from the city.
Next morning, however, the children carried him off to the Fairy Ring right after breakfast. Uncle Henry admired it very much — it was such a beautiful, big one! If you have never seen one yourself this will b a good time to show you how they look. Uncle Henry told the children that the little fairy umbrellas were not toadstools, as they thought, but mushrooms, so you may as well know too.
Page 89: “Tell me, Mr. Puck,” said Betty to the little green man, who still sat cross-legged on the dirt in the pail, “did Monsieur Foucault discover his experiment in a Fairy Ring in France?”
“Yes,” said Puck, “and I told him there just how far the pendulum would turn on the circle on the Pantheon floor in an hour — before he even tried the experiment at all.”
The children looked at Puck quite open-mouthed with wonder. He rose, leaped upward, grasped the wire, and quickly went up it hand over hand to the beam overhead. Then in a moment the pail of dirt fell to the barn floor with a thud and the wire came rattling down after it.
Page 92: “Well,” said Paul, “it’s a good thing we are near to the sun, ‘cause if we weren’t, this sundial wouldn’t work at all, and I like to watch the shadow creep. You can almost see it move. Why does it tell time, Uncle Hen?”
“Well,” said Uncle Henry, “I move that we go out into the Fairy Ring and wonder about it. Perhaps if we think hard enough Puck will come and help us to find out all about telling time.”
“That’ll be great,” said Peter.
Page 93: Peter went to hunt lath, nails, hammer, and string; Paul went to find an old barrel hoop; and Betty started in search of Rags’ ball. They are all to meet in the Stump Meadow by the Fairy Ring in fifteen minutes.
When Uncle Henry found the children there he had also one of his big pads of drawing paper with him, and a mysterious little, flat black box.
Page 105: It was quite dark when a little procession, headed by a young man with a barn lantern, left the farmhouse and started for the Fairy Ring in the Stump Meadow. Paul carried a school slate and had chalk in his pocket.
"Our sundial will be asleep now," said Betty.
"Yes," said Peter, "but it'll wake up the moment the sun comes up."
"How would we be able to tell time at night, Uncle Hen," asked Paul, "if we didn't have any clocks or watches?"
"Just the same way people told it at night before there were any clocks or watches," said Uncle Henry.
"But how was that?" persisted Paul.
"By the big clock in the northern sky," said Uncle Henry.
The children tried to see his face to find out if he was joking, and when they saw that he wasn't they looked up at the northern stars with puzzled expressions.
By this time they had all arrived at the Fairy Ring and Betty cried,
"Oh, I want to find Polaris, the north star, the way Uncle Henry said we could this morning."
So the little girl lay down on the sod and looked upward and Northward along the line of the sundial's cord.
"It really does do it!" she cried.
"Does do what?" said Peter.
"The cord really does point out the north star," cried Betty. "I know it's the north star because the pointer stars in the big dipper show that it is."
Page 131: Then Uncle Henry and Betty used the tapeline again and found the place for Saturn, away out in the centre of the Stump Meadow, over 1760 feet, or a third of a mile, away from the sun melon in Grandfather's garden.
The place for Saturn just happened to be right close to the Fairy Ring, so when Saturn was set down on the ground in his right place, the children and Uncle Henry sat down on the grass in the Ring to rest a little.
"How many more children has Old Sol?" asked Peter.
"Two," said Uncle Henry, "and if we want to go on and put them in their proper places, we can represent them by two marbles, each about half an inch in diameter."
Page 169: The children were quiet a moment or two, wondering just what the words on the spider web meant.
Then Betty said, "Those words on the screen don't mean that we have to answer all our own questions after this, do they, Uncle Henry? Can't we ask Mr. Puck any more? Why, we'll never get over wanting to ask Mr. Puck for answers about the stars, and the earth, and its flowers, and clouds, and trees, and birds, and animals and—and—and— everything—at least not until we're quite grown up!
"I hope not even then," said Uncle Henry quietly. "Mr. Puck just means that he cannot tell you the most wonderful answers in the world until you are a little older and begin to wonder what they are."
In a moment the picture of the Fairy Ring gradually appeared on the screen.
Page 170: "Oh, I see," said Betty, "we must wonder and wonder — about bigger and bigger things — Puck will bring answers only to those who are in Wonder Rings."
Uncle Henry nodded his head and smiled, and the Fairy Ring faded from the spider's movie screen.
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Lindsey Barbee, Cinderella and Five Other Fairy Plays, 1922
Page 81: Queen. Fairies of the fairy rings,
Fairies with the sparkling wings,
Fairies beautiful and fair,
Shield the Princess with your care.
Fairy gifts and wishes bring
To the baby’s christening.
Page 137: Rosebud. There’s a fine place over here to play. We’ll take you to it.
Red Riding Hood. I can’t. I just can’t.
Bluebell. And we’ll show you our fairy ring.
Red Riding Hood. Can’t you show it some other time?
Daisy (A bit provoked.) It isn’t everybody who gets a chance to see a fairy ring.
Red Riding Hood. But mother told me not to stay for anything.
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Zoe Meyer, The Little Green Door, 1921 [Fiction.]
Page 43: THE FAIRY RING. All the little folk thought the fairy wonderful to have such beautiful thoughts. The elves, especially, were proud of her, and helped her so much that she wished she might do something for them.
Page 47: Now if you go to the Green Forest you may see the ring of toadstools where the elves hold their meetings. Even grown-up people have seen it. They call it a fairy ring.
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Margaret Thérèse Einert, The Rhythmic Dance Book, 1921
Page 80: [Bars of Music:] 4. Suddenly the movement ceases, one brownie joins the nymphs’ circle on either side and facing outwards, the whole six form a fairy ring, lying on R. side, facing outwards, leaving very little space between the feet of one and head of the next.
Page 81: [Bars of Music:] 6. Each nymph and brownie reclines on the R. forearm, L. hand stretched outwards from the circle, a few inches from the ground, while the music charmer, reentering with his pipe, goes round the fairy ring springing over the hands as he passes them. Each hand, as soon as jumped over, is extended back to center of circle.
[Bars of Music:] 4. Music charmer, looking at little girl, sways over to right, left, right, left, piping all the time.
[Bars of Music:] 1. He then beckons twice, at which she springs up in delight, clapping her hands high.
[Bars of Music:] 4. The music charmer now proceeds backwards round the rear of the fairy ring, enticing the little girl to follow him.
They both sway right, then left, then trip on four times.
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Abbie Farwell Brown, Heart of New England, 1920
FAIRY RING.
I stepped within the fairy ring,
Where it was green, so green.
Then I heard the trill of a fairy bell,
And the song of the Fairy Queen.
The secret that she murmured me
To the trill of the fairy bell,
Was sweet, so sweet you’d not believe,
If I should try to tell.
But step you too in the fairy ring,
And hold fast to my hand;
Then we may hear a lovelier thing,
And both will understand.
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Hilda Conkling, Poems by a Little Girl, 1920
Page 31: AUTUMN SONG.
I made a ring of leaves
On the autumn grass:
I was a fairy queen all day.
Inside the ring, the wind wore sandals
Not to make a noise of going.
The caterpillars, like little snow men,
Had wound themselves in their winter coats.
The hands of the trees were bare
And their fingers fluttered.
I was a queen of yellow leaves and brown,
And the redness of my fairy ring
Kept me warm.
For the wind blew near,
Though h made no noise of going,
And I hadn’t a close-made wrap
Like the caterpillars.
Even a queen of fairies can be cold
When summer has forgotten and gone!
Keep me warm, red leaves;
Don’t let the frost tiptoe into my ring
On the magic grass!
Page 60: THE ROLLING IN OF THE WAVE.
It was night when the sky was dark blue
And the water came in with a wavy look
Like a spider’s web.
The point of the slope came down to the water’s edge;
It was green with a fairy ring of forget-me-not and fern.
The white foam licked the side of the slope
As it cam up and bent backward;
It curled up like a beautiful cinder-tree
Bending in the wind.
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Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin, The Fairy Ring, 1916
Page xi: Where witch-grass grows and fern-seed lies,
A Fairy Ring is dimly seen;
And there a glittering host is met
To dance upon the moonlit green.
Piquet, the Tufted, lightly turns
The Fair One with the Golden Hair;
And Prince Desire and Mignonette
Form yet another graceful pair.
Tall as a tower stands Galifron;
The Desert Fay, with snakes bedight,
First pirouettes with him and then
With wee Tom Thumb, King Arthur’s Knight.
Ting-ling, ting-ling, how sweet the ring,
Like golden bells, of fairy laughter;
Rap-tap, rap-tap, bow sharp the clap
Of fairy footfalls following after!
Page xiv: INTRODUCTION. “There was once upon a time a king who had a garden, in that garden was an apple tree, and on that apple tree grow a golden apple very year.”
These stories are the golden apples that grew on the tree in the king's garden; grew and grew and grew as the golden years went by; and being apples of gold they could never wither nor shrink nor change, so that thy are as beautiful and precious for you to pluck today as when first they ripened long, long ago.
Perhaps you do not care for the sort of golden apples that grew in the king's garden; perhaps you prefer plain russets or green pippins? Well, these are not to be despised, for they also are wholesome food for growing boys and girls; but unless you can taste the flavor and feel the magic that lies in the golden apples of the king's garden you will lose one of the joys of youth.
No one can help respecting apples (or stories) that gleam as brightly today as they did hundreds and thousands of years ago, when first the tiny blossoms ripened into precious fruit.
"Should you ask me whence these stories,
Whence these legends and traditions
With the odors of the forest,
With the dew and damp of meadows” —
I can say only that the people were telling fairy tales in Egypt, in Joseph's time, more than three thousand years ago; and that grand old Homer told them in the famous "Odyssey," with its witches and giants, its cap of darkness, and shoes of swiftness. Old nurses and village crones have repeated them by the fireside and in the chimney corner; shepherds and cowherds have recounted them by the brookside, until the children of the world have all learned them by heart, bequeathing them, generation after generation, as a priceless legacy to, their own children. Nor must you fancy that they have been told in your own tongue only. Long, long before the art of printing was known, men and women of all nations recited these and similar tales to one another, never thinking that the day would come when they would be regarded as the peculiar property of youth and childhood. There is not a country in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, or the islands of the sea where fairy stories of one sort or another have not been current since the dawn of speech; and to make this Fairy Ring of sixty-odd tales the editors have read and sifted as many hundreds. You will miss Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Toads and Diamonds, Puss in Boots, Bluebeard, Beauty and the Beast, and other favorites, but these have been omitted because they can be easily found in half a dozen volumes already on your shelves, and we preferred to give you in their stead stories less well known and hackneyed.
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Helen Kimberly McElhone, The Secrets of the Elves, 1913
Page 35: THE FAIRY RING. The Third Secret.
When you find a ring of mushrooms in the grass, that is a fairy ring, and you may be sure that the fairies were dancing there the night before.
ONCE a little girl found a circle of mushrooms on the lawn.
“What are they?” she asked her big brother.
“Mushrooms.”
“What shall I do with them?”
“Sell them to the market-man.”
“What are they?” she asked her big sister.
“Mushrooms.”
“What shall I do with them?”
“Have them for luncheon.”
“What are they?” she asked her little brother.
“Toadstools.”
“What shall I do with them?”
“Throw them at the toads.”
“What are they?” she asked her little sister.
“It is a fairy ring.”
“What shall I do with it?”
“Leave it for the fairies.”
So she left it, and the fairies liked the little sister better than all the rest of the family.
Page 37: THE FAIRY RING
When the clocks are striking twelves,
'T is the hour of the elves;
And from every dell and dingle
Fairy bells begin to jingle,
Elfin pipers come to play
Music never heard by day.
Fairies come to dance and sing,
In and out and round the ring,
Weave and bend and laugh and play
All throughout the moonbeam's ray;
Slender limbs and nimble toes,
Round they go in rings and rows.
Page 41: If you decide to do it, first try the fern seed, then the charm, then join the fairy ring. Then you will be able to collect a band of fairies to help you with the incantation. It also requires some fireflies, a willow wand, and a few bats.
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Rudyard Kipling, Puck of Pook’s Hill, 1906 [Fiction.]
The Theatre lay in a meadow called the Long Slip. A little millstream, carrying water to a mill two or three fields away, bent round one corner of it, and in the middle of the bend lay a large old fairy Ring of darkened grass, which was the stage. The mill-stream banks, overgrown with willow, hazel, and guelder-rose, made convenient places to wait in till your turn came; and a grown-up who had seen it said that Shakespeare himself could not have imagined a more suitable setting for his play. They were not, of course, allowed to act on Midsummer Night itself, but they went down after tea on Midsummer Eve, when the shadows were growing, and they took their supper — hard-boiled eggs, Bath Oliver biscuits, and salt in an envelope — with them. Three Cows had been milked and were grazing steadily with a tearing noise that one could hear all down the meadow; and the noise of the mill at work sounded like bare feet running on hard ground. A cuckoo sat on a gate-post singing his broken June tune, "cuckoo-cuk," while a busy kingfisher crossed from the millstream to the brook which ran on the other side of the meadow. Everything else was a sort of thick, sleepy stillness smelling of meadow-sweet and dry grass.
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The Asa Gray Bulletin, 1897
Page 94: The Fairy Ring and its Neighbors. Mabel E. Williams.
……
To those of us who know and appreciate the flavor of the true Champignon, a fairy ring suggests other thoughts, not quite so aesthetic, perhaps, but none the less clear. Ruthlessly we gather the “fairies” into our basket, hat or handkerchief — whatever is most convenient — and soon convert the “elves hats” into a compound fit for the Queen of Fairies herself. That indescribable mixture of the flavor of mushrooms, a hint of boiled chestnuts — well, fairy rings in fact — there is nothing like it, and nothing quite so good.
But there are fairy rings and fairy rings, and some that are not rings at all. Like a great many other very nice people the fairies are apt to be found in bad company and a goodly amount of careful discrimination is to be exercised till the true fairy is known and the rogues in their similar dress found out. Then all is clear sailing and the mycophagist may indulge himself from the middle of April till the middle of November if the season is moist enough and he has patience to pick the tiny things — and he will have if he once comes to know their true flavor and the many uses to which they may be put.
The true “fairy ring” (Marasmius oreades, Fig. 1) is always to be found on grassy lawns or in pastures, is seldom much more than an inch across and from two to two-and-a-half inches high. It is almost always found in rings or parts of rings. It is whitish or yellowish-tan, tough, thin, and with a rounded projection (known as the umbo) in the center. The umbo is generally darker than the rest of the cap and in wet weather is often decidedly brown, the sun soon dispels that, however, and it resumes its normal color. It is narcescent, i.e., has the property of drying up and reviving again when moist. For this reason it remains edible longer than most other kinds of fungi, and because the cells contract and expand so readily or for some other reason the plant is seldom troubled by insects or their larvae — a strong recommendation. The thin edge of the cap often becomes striate when old, and when partly dry it is sometimes twisted and reflexed, giving the cap an irregular appearance. The stem is solid, very tough, deeper in color than the cap, smooth, often with a bunch of earth at the base, and if desired for the table it is better to cut the stems off close to the cap, since they are too tough to eat and only soil the caps if gathered whole. They have to be washed, of course, but the less washing they get the better the flavor. The gills are broad and quite a distance apart. They are rounded away from the stem and are of the same color or a little lighter than the cap. If left in a quiet place a little while a fine powder (the spores) falls from, the gills.
Page 96: Now for the rogues: Fig. 2 (Inocybe sp.) is one of them. Brownie would, perhaps, be a good name for him. He is found often in rings, sometimes in groups or rows, alone or mixed with the true fairy ring, and occurs throughout the entire season. A casual glance would hardly reveal any difference between the two plants, but on looking closer the Inocybe is found to be covered all over with little brown hairs (fibrils) while the true fairy ring is smooth. Sometimes the skin of the cap cracks and peels up until the top of the cap looks like an old shingled roof badly in need of repair. The stem of this fungus is very brittle, brownish or gray, and is also hairy. The principal difference is in the gills and spores, which, in the Inocybe are brown and much closer together. The whole plant feels cold and clammy to the touch, while the Marasmius is dry, or comparatively so. While no great harm is likely to result from eating this Inocybe, it has an unpleasant odor and would probably spoil the flavor of the dish.
Page 97: The dealbata Clitocybe (Clitocybe dealbata, Fig. 4) is not so harmless, though an insignificant looking little rascal. It is generally shorter than any of the others, white or grayish or yellowish-white on top, with a slight depression in the center that is often a little darker in color than the rest of the cap. The whole top looks as though it has been sprinkled over with a fine, white powder. It also is clammy to the touch. The stem is short, usually about an inch long. It is quite brittle and hard to get out of the ground entire. The whole plant shows a disposition to snuggle down into the grass with only an occasional sentinel standing on guard above the others. The main points of difference between it and the fairy ring are to be found in the gills. Both are white, but the Clitocybe has many narrow gills which run down the stem, while in Marasmius they are much fewer and do not touch the stem. Severe sickness has been caused by eating this fungus, though it generally effects its own cure by acting as an emetic. It has never proven fatal, so far as known, nor is it likely to do so; nevertheless it is a good fungus to let alone.
Page 98: So much for the fairy ring and its neighbors. Cook it in water, and a little longer than you would the tenderer kinds, but keep the water, for therein is the flavor. If you wish for pickles there is nothing better; just scald them with good vinegar and a little spice, and they will keep, sealed or unsealed — if you can keep from eating them. If you have more than you know what to do with, dry them. A few hours in a warm place will dry them perfectly, and if soaked a while in warm water they will be as good as fresh ones, and more appreciated if it is winter-time.
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Moira O’Neill, The Elf-Errant, 1895 [Fiction.]
Page 51: Low on the tender grass there lies a bright, green ring. It was never cut or planted there; it is the Fairy Ring, and Fairy feet traced it when first they danced on the spot long, long ago, before even the beginning of the Honey Feud. Whatever should happen to the spot, whether it were dug or planted, or even burnt, next spring the Fairy Ring would re-appear in the grass, green as ever, as surely as the Fairies would come back to dance on it. It depends on the season which Fairies come. In spring there are the pale Primrose Maids, and the little shy Sprites from the Violets, who look down gravely and say sweet things. The Windflower Fairies too, who say nothing, but look more like angels than Fairies, they are so purely white, with a rose-pale flush on their wings. All these are the children amongst the flowers; they know nothing yet, they are so young in the year, and they bring the look of another world on their faces.
Page 52: When these are gone there is a pause in the chain; but at last, some starry night the Bluebell Fairies will come, those unexampled beings, full of music and of mystery. They will not dance much, but moving in their dreamy circle on the Fairy Ring, they will sing a chorus softly sweet, which only the Maidens of the May are privileged to hear. Those tender Fairy maidens in their pearly white and pink, come gladly crowding hand in hand to hear the Bluebell music. But as it fills their ears, they hold each other tightly, their fresh cheeks grow pale, and the night dews stand in their eyes like tears; for the singing moves them strangely. They do not speak at all, but kiss their hands to the Bluebell Fairies, who bow to them like courtiers, and sighing gently, pass away to their homes in the shady wood. The music is only on starry nights, for the Bluebell Fairies are shy of the bright moonlight; they think the Moon a cold and songless Queen, too splendid to be sung to. But the stars, they say, were the first voices that ever sang together; and so their far-off twinkling seems to them like the smiling of friends that know.
Page 54: Have you ever met with the Orchis Fairies? They are many and different, but each is so original that he seems to be the only Orchis Fairy for the time. It is a habit with the order to wear hoods; they sometimes push them back and sometimes pull them forward, and their eyes shine out from under them when they make those quaint and brief remarks which amuse the whole Fairy Ring, while they look as grave as judges themselves. They are not very sociable Fairies, but of course they dance in June, and the Foxglove Fairies are overjoyed when they find them on the Ring. For being gallant and not witty themselves, they delight in the society of wits.
Page 65: “ Speedwell! SpeedwellI” called the Elf, and he darted out into the moonlight. It was all lonely, bright, and empty there. “Speedwell! ” He flew far afield, and searched and wandered along the stream, between Sleeping flowers and twinkling grasses, and groves of the sweet-scented fern of Altaneigh; but he found no Speedwell there. He knew he should not find her now, and yet he could not help looking. He knew, because it was plain, that she had some of those higher powers which he had never won; therefore, if she chose to be invisible, it was hopeless to seek her, and chiefly because she was there all the time. At last he wandered back to the Fairy Ring.
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Mordecai Cubitt Cooke, Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms: What to Eat and What to Avoid, 1894
Page 18: If an inexperienced person finds a species of “mushroom,” or fungus of the mushroom type, with pink gills, and thinks, on that account, it must be the Common Mushroom, this method should be tried, and the color of the spores ascertained, for if the spores are pinkish, then the fungus in question is not the true mushroom, and is possibly dangerous; but if the spores are dark purple-brown, notwithstanding that the gills were at first pink, then it is perfectly safe. So that the color of the spores is a question of importance, and should not be neglected, supposing, of course, that the person interested is not perfectly sure, from experience, that the right species is under observation. We have actually known persons mistake white or pink-spored Agarics for mushrooms, which they could not have done had they paid attention to the color of the spores. In another instance we remember a foolish youth cooking and eating a small species with rust-colored spores, under the impression that they were the Fairy Ring Champignon, which latter has white spores. Fortunately, in this case, the fungus eaten was not a poisonous one, but no one had ever tested it, and it was regarded with suspicion.
Page 41: FAIRY RING CHAMPIGNON. Marasmius oreades. (Plate III, Fig. 2.)
This species is extensively known, growing in clusters, and forming rings, or parts of rings, on lawns, and in old pastures, sometimes by the roadsides, but not in woods. It is rather an early species, being found in summer, and becoming rare in September. Its whole substance is dry and elastic, but not fragile; a dozen may be carried in the pocket without breaking, and it dries so readily that it may be kept for winter use. Its usual size is about one inch in diameter of the cap, but sometimes double that size. The pileus is convex, with a little depression round the center, and of a pale tan-color when moist, or warm ochre when dry. The stem is slender, equal, solid, and white, very faintly woolly, but naked at the base. The gills are broad, rather distant apart, with shorter ones between, and nearly white, or with a faint tinge of pale primrose, the spores being white. There is a peculiar fragrance, not distinctly sweet-scented, but rather “mushroomy,” and the flavor is mild. The dry substance of the entire fungus is an indication that care must be employed in cooking to prevent its becoming tough. Some persons are more enthusiastic than ourselves in adulation of this esculent, and have declared it to be “the very best of all our fungi.” It is most useful for flavoring, will furnish an excellent white sauce akin to ketchup, is invariably safe, but is better for immediate use when collected in moist weather, and then, broiled in butter, it is highly commended. With common sense and moderate care it is hardly possible to confound it with any other species.
Page 105: WOOD WOOLLY FOOT. Marasmius peroratus. (Plate XIV, Fig. 2.)
THIS is supposed to be the woodland representative of the Fairy Ring Champignon, and persons have been often cautioned against confounding them, which is a libel on humanity, for they are nothing like each other. This species is autumnal, being plentiful in September and October, with a dry, dull umber-coloured pileus, about two inches in diameter, gills which are broad and rather distant, of almost the same color, but with a slight tinge of purple, and an erect rigid stem, the lower half of which is clothed with a pale yellowish, shaggy wool. The spores are white, notwithstanding the dark gills. This species is reputed poisonous, and yet it is sometimes mild enough to the taste, when fresh. Like the Champignon, it is very tough and flexible, so that specimens may be carried loose without breaking. Unlike the Champignon, it always grows in woods and amongst dead leaves, and, never forms rings or parts of rings.
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A.L.H.A., Halcyon and Asphodel and Other Stories, 1886
Page 4: Well, off set the King to the meadow by the river, and all alone in the moonlight. He carefully examined first one and then another of the fairy rings, but all to no purpose. There were plenty of fairy-ring toadstools, but not a fairy to be seen anywhere; and he was just going to give it up in despair and go home to his palace and comfortable throw by the fireside, when he heard a silvery voice behind him say — “I beg your pardon, but were you looking for anybody particular?”
Page 10: All happened as the sprite had said. The man had a son and he named him Opal, and put the fairy ring upon his finger. He and the Prince grow up and became friends in their boyhood, for Opal was an expert fisherman, and indeed clever and successful from his earliest years in anything he undertook; and as Halcyon was extremely fond of every sport connected with the river, Opal soon came under his notice, and the prince took a great fancy to him, and he became his favorite companion and friend. But Opal was forever hankering after wealth and greatness. While he fish and boated he sat silent and grave; his thoughts constantly employed in schemes for raising himself in the world. He was never happy or contented, for he was eternally wishing for something more than he had already, and pondering how he could achieve greatness.
Page 11: And indeed it was true that Opal neglected the warnings of his fairy ring, for many a time in his pursuit of power had the pale stones emitted — unheeded — the warning sparks, which were the sure sign that he sought to raise himself in the world at the expense of truth and honesty.
Page 16: For the first time in his life Halcyon felt his heart sink within him. A feeling of longing (that was akin to pain) to comfort her took possession of his breast. For the first time in his life his fairy ring seemed to fail in its power, for h knew in his soul that happiness was at an end for him unless he could make her happy.
Page 30: The voice died away, and Halcyon, who had paused to listen, sighed and turned the fairy ring half absently on his finger. Opal’s heavy brows drew together, and became black as midnight.
“Had we not better be hastening on, sire?” he said softly, but with a sinister glance; “the sun sinks low, and will soon disappear.”
“Lead on,” said the King, half sadly. “My fairy ring has lost its power, for my heart is full tonight, and sorrow has taken hold on it. I fear I know not what — and yet there is that in my sorrow which makes it sweeter than joy. I wound fain stay here beneath her casement forever. But I must go forth and seek and find the Land of Light. Dear Opal, I thank thee for accompanying me. I am glad of thy presence, though my heart misgives me that difficulty and danger are before us.”
Page 34: “Alas!” said Opal, with all the appearance of the deepest woe, “the King is no more.”
He then proceeded to tell a most abominable story which he had concocted on his way home, to the effect that he and Halcyon had slept and watched in turn, and that when he (Opal) awoke, the King was nowhere to be sen, nothing being left of him but his fairy ring, “which,” said Opal, “he had taken off, contrary to my entreaties, the better to bathe his brow, which he complained felt heated.” And in proof of this tissue of falsehood, Opal produced the ring from his pocket, having been unable to get it on his finger, as it was much too small for him.
Page 35: So Opal became King until Halcyon returned. He thought in his heart this would never be, but, though he had thus attained the summit of his ambition, and moreover had the fairy ring of Halcyon, it was no use to him, for he could not put it on. He was perfectly miserable. He could bend the wills of men, but he could not win their hearts. His subjects gave him their fullest allegiance, but they hated while they feared him, and the wretched Opal knew it.
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Mordecai Cubitt Cooke, British Edible Fungi: How to Distinguish and Cook Them, 1891
Page 35: Several different kinds of fungi have had the credit of forming “fairy-rings” on the grass in meadows, and the horse mushrooms is one of these, from its habit of often growing in rings, but it is not the real Fairy Ring champignon.
Page 58: The St. George’s mushroom is a pasture-loving species, and is not found in woods. In ordinary circumstances the cap is about three inches in diameter, but it will reach four or five, and Dr. Balham states that he has found it six inches across, and weighing between four and five ounces. He adds that he collected one spring at Keston, in Kent, from ten to twelve pounds in a single ring, and in the one field from twenty to twenty-five pounds . From this it will be seen that it is a gregarious species, many specimens being found growing in company, in the form of rings, or parts of rings, in the same manner as the fairy-ring champignon. In some parts a prejudice exists amongst the farmers against them, on the supposition that they injure the grass crops, and for that reason they are kicked over and destroyed. A better plan would be to collect them in a basket, and carry them home to cook; but prejudice is blind.
Page 77: XI. — THE FAIRY RING CHAMPIGNON. It would be a fallacy to suppose because this is called the “Fairy Ring Champignon” that it is the only fungus which delights in fairy rings, whereas there are several distinct species which possess this proclivity. Still, it is this (Marasmius oreades) and no other, to which the name of Fairy ring mushroom is exclusively applied. It is assumed to be this which is dedicated to — “The nimble elves that do by moonshine green sour ringlets make whereof the ewe bites not; whose pastime ’tis to make these midnight mushrooms.”
Page 81: The fungus which is commonly known as the “fairy ring champignon” (Marasmius oreades) is a small, dry looking mushroom, seldom much more than one inch in diameter, and of a warm buff color, paler when dry. The cap is convex, with a slight depression round the broad central umbo or boss, quite smooth, without any lines or scales; as it becomes old it is rather flattened. The stem is of equal thickness throughout, whitish, from the size of a straw to that of a clay-pipe stem. The gills are broad, and distant from each other, quite white, or creamy white, or with the slightest tinge of yellow, reading the stem. The substance is tough and elastic, not brittle, and it dries very readily, never melting. After having been dried, if placed in water it will reassume its former size and shape. This peculiar dry substance and power of reviving is the feature whereby a Marasmius may be distinguished from an agaric. It would be folly to seek this species in woods, as it grows in the open, in pastures, lawns, &c, and the species found in woods, which resemble it somewhat in appearance, are not good eating. We have known persons to confound dark brown, and other dark coloured species, with the champignon, simply on account of their gregarious habit. This is absurd, because the true species is always light coloured, even when soaked with moisture, and the gills are nearly white, with white spores. The features which distinguish this from similar species are so permanent and well marked that we cannot comprehend how mistakes so egregious could have been made. Above all things, let it be certain that the spores and gills are white; that the cap is perfectly dry, and not in the least viscid; that the gills are distant apart, so that you may look down between them; and that the whole substance is tough, elastic, and flexible as compared with the agarics. It is possible to carry them home loose in the coat pocket without breaking them, especially in dry weather, and they should be sought after in summer or early autumn. In September, certainly in October, none will be found.
Page 82: Without repeating all the encomiums that have been passed on the "fairy ring champignon," we will be content with one, which may be accepted as a type of the rest "It should be stewed with pepper and butter, and then it makes an agreeable condiment. It is also to be recommended for pickling. It might be used as an ingredient in soups all through the year, as its tough nature allows it to be strung up in quantities like onions. This is a very delicious agaric beyond question; and the abundance in which it everywhere grows makes it a very valuable one. The only drawback is its tendency to toughness, which is, however, easily to be surmounted by proper cooking."
Page 83: Pickled Champignons are prepared as follows. Collect fresh buttons of the fairy ring champignon and use them at once. Cut off the stems quite close and throw each one, as you do it, into a basin of water in which a spoonful of salt has been dissolved. Drain them from it quickly afterwards, and lay them on a soft cloth to dry. For each quart of buttons thus prepared take nearly a quart of pale white wine vinegar, and add to it a heaped teaspoonful of salt, half an ounce of whole white pepper, an ounce of ginger bruised, two large blades of mace, and a fourth of a salt spoon of cayenne pepper, tied in a small piece of muslin. When this pickle boils throw in the champignons and boil them in it over a clear fire, moderately fast, from six to nine minutes. When tolerably tender put them into warm, wide-mouthed bottles, and divide the spice equally amongst them; when perfectly cold cork well, or tie skins and paper over them. Store in a dry place, and keep out the frost.
Page 119: Boleti are certainly fond of growing under fir trees, for there is another rather common species found in such situations, which, if not enticing in appearance, has ben commended. The dingy boletus (Boletus bovinus), or as the latin name implies, “oxen” boletus grows in companies, with a cap about two inches broad, smooth and viscid, almost slimy, reddish grey, dull yellow, or deep buff, paler at the margin, which is whitish and woolly, stem two or three inches high, and one half to three quarters of an inch thick, of the same color as the cap, sometimes attenuated below, and streaked with watery lines. Flesh tinged with the general color, but unchangeable. Pores angular, very shallow, and compound, dirty yellow, becoming rusty when old. It has a strong odor resembling that of the fairy-ring champignon. As an edible species it has been compass with the granular boletus.
Page 136: The ivory caps {Hygrophorus virgineus) and its smaller white companion (H. niveus) are worthy of more attention than fungus eaters have given to them. This may be predicated from the fact that no special modes of cooking have been recommended for them beyond "stew gently with fine herbs and delicate sauce." Both require the addition of gravy, and as the Woolhope record intimates — "They should be stewed very gently for an hour, with the usual condiments, closely covered up, and served hot." Like all mushrooms of dry texture that require cooking for some time to make them tender, it is necessary to keep the temperature low, that the delicate flavor may not be lost. The white species are not so dry as the pasture hygrophorus, and the late Dr Chapman has remarked that they have the flavor of the fairy ring champignon, but are more tender and delicate, and either boiled or fried are an excellent dish for the breakfast table.
Page 206: It will hardly be possible to make a large supply of ketchup from the fairy ring champignon (Marasmius oreades), because it is so dry in substance that each individual will yield but a very small quantity, and, as the fungus itself is only a little one, an immense number must be collected to produce a batch.
Page 214: Another fungus which is peculiarly suitable for drying is the fairy ring champignon (Marasmius oreades). These can be strung in a line by passing a twine through a hole in the stems, and suspending them in the kitchen until quite dry. There is so little water in their composition that they will dry readily, without any tendency to decay, and the flavor is hardly to be equaled by any other.
Page 219: FUNGUS eating of course implies fungus hunting, and as the articles to be consumed have first to be obtained, it is essential that all possible assistance should be given to attain this object. For this purpose it is essential that the inexperienced should know as well the times and seasons for certain species, and the most favorable localities, as to be able to discriminate them when found. Dealing as it does with a large number of different kinds of fungi, appearing consecutively through a period of some months, there must be some method in hunting as well as in cooking, applicable to the different kinds individually. It goes without saying that some localities will be superior to others in their facilities for obtaining the raw material, but the worst localities will furnish a better result if worked in a systematic manner, and as the edible fungi under consideration are wild and spontaneous plants, dependent not only upon terrestrial but also atmospherical conditions, much time will be wasted, and disappointment caused, if only a haphazard kind of fungus hunting is resorted to. For instance, it will be useless to make an excursion in the early summer in the hope of finding kinds which do not make their appearance until autumn, and it will be equally unavailing to scour the woods in June for particular species, such as the fairy ring champignon, which does not grow in woods at all, but on open heaths, lawns, parks, and pastures. In all such matters there is no better guide than experience, but in default of experience, and to assist in its acquisition, a little may be communicated under the head of general instructions.
Page 220: Some excellent suggestions were made by Dr Bull in a volume of the Woolhope Transactions as to the period of the year in which the various edible fungi prevail. He writes — "In the end of April, or the beginning of May, the fungus season begins with the appearance of the true St George's mushroom (Agaricus gambosus) growing in fairy rings, in pastures. These are quickly followed by the little fairy ring champignon (Marasniius oreades), scattered specimens of the meadow mushroom, or horse mushroom (Agaricus arvensis), clusters of the maned agaric (Coprinus comatus), which in warm sunny seasons may be gathered all through the months of May, June, and July, and in the last month the edible boletus (Boletus edulis) will have put in its appearance. Then comes the great season of the common mushroom (Agaricus campestris), which may be allowed to reign supreme through July and August. From this time, through September and October, the great crop of fungi will appear. Besides those already named, there will abound the fine flavored parasol agaric (Agaricusprocerus), the rich red milk agaric (Lactarius deliciosus), the brown warty agaric (Agaricus rubescens), the great puff ball (Lycoperdon giganteum), the vegetable beef steak (Fistulina hepaticd) on decaying oak trees, vegetable sweet-bread (Agaricus orcelld), the plum mushroom (Agaricus prunulus), the pasture hygrophorus (Hygrophorus pratensis), and many others. The seasons will then be carried on by the hedgehog mushroom (Hydnum repandum), the small but abundant ivory caps (Hygrophorus virgineus), the blewits (Agaricus personatus), and the amethyst agaric (Agaricus nudus), until the frosts of November and December stop their growth." It might have been added that even slight frosts do not materially affect the different species of Hygrophorus, which are about the last to linger, in defiance of the coming winter, except perhaps the pasture Hygrophorus, which is not a late species.
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