It was said that if humans joined in the dance they would be punished by the fairies, and made to dance in the ring until they passed out from exhaustion. It was believed they were the place where witches would dance on Walpurgis Night, a spring celebration taking place exactly six months before Halloween. There's a lot of folklore surrounding fairy rings, and some stories take a sinister turn. In Austrian mythology, dragons were to blame for the appearance of fairy rings.
It was said they burned them into the forest floor with their fiery tails. There are lots more mythical stories surrounding fairy rings. Some cultures believe that they are portals to another world, while others say that the mushrooms are simply used as dinner tables for fairies. There is also the belief that they bring good luck and that they are a sign of a fairy village underground.
Another folklore story is that you should never step into a fairy ring, as you may become invisible or become trapped there forever. If not, what do you think caused these rings of mushrooms? Fairy rings are formed by certain varieties of fungus that flourish in wet, rainy conditions. The body of the fungus called the mycelium lives underground, and it grows outward in a circle in search of more and more nutrients.
The mushrooms spring up from the edge of the mycelium, especially in wet weather, and therefore form a ring. The organism itself is actually a full circle, which is not at all a curious shape for an organism—but it appears as a ring because the only visible part is the perimeter that shoots up mushrooms above ground.
Additionally, fairy rings that form under the canopy of a tree and appear to neatly circle a tree trunk are typically evidence of a symbiotic relationship between mycorrhizal fungi that partner with tree roots mutualism.
The tree roots gain fixed nitrogen from the mycelium of the fungi and the fungi depend on the tree roots for structure and space for growth. Other, less dramatic and more common instances of this same organismal interaction with the environment are circles of differently colored grass in a lawn—deep green at first, then dry and brown. They are said to improve fertility and fortune. Because fairy rings are typically associated with magic and other-worldly phenomena, they are regarded with awe as well as with fear.
As the weather starts to cool and summer transitions into fall, fairy rings appear all over the world and spark our imaginations. If you happen to spy one on your lawn or come across one while hiking, watch your step, and perhaps try listening for the quiet sound of laughter and merriment that people have heard from them for so many thousands of years.
Get your plant on. Email Address. Photo: M. Wild Earth. What do fairy rings look like? Fairy rings are rings of grass up to 15 feet in diameter that have a distinctly different color or texture than the grass inside or outside of the ring. Half- or other partial ring patterns occur as well.
Depending on conditions, grass within fairy rings can be denser, greener, and faster growing, or alternatively browner and drier than surrounding grass. During wet weather, rings of mushrooms may form at the edge of the discolored grass. Where do fairy rings come from?
Fairy rings are caused by certain fungi that feed on decaying organic matter e. Growth of fairy ring fungi begins in the center of the ring, expanding outward in a relatively uniform, circular pattern.
Three different types of fairy rings can form depending on soil type, the specific fungus involved, and environmental conditions. Type 1 fairy rings occur most commonly on golf course putting greens, and occur less commonly on home lawns.
0コメント