The dew from the lusher grass just outside the ring is used by country girls for their complexions, or even for a love potion. The rings are in fact caused by the simplest of mechanisms. The Fairy Ring Mushroom simply spreads out from the point where it first became established because it can only spread outwards. Nutrients required by the fungus are depleted from where it has grown, so the ring can proceed only in one direction, outwards, forming the inevitable ring. The lusher grass just forward of the front is thought to be due to release of excess ammonia by the advancing hyphae, making nitrogen available to the grass.
Rings grow indefinitely but break up and become hard to recognise.
They grow at an average of about 12.5 cm radius a year. Most records range from 8 to 34 cm. Growth depends on species, soil and weather. The Stinkhorn Finally, stories about the stinkhorn, Phallus impudicus , abound. There are endless stories about this obvious fertility symbol but one particularly seems to deserve telling.