Fungi love water and here lately in North Carolina we've had plenty of water via record rainfall to help ensure they don't go extinct any time soon. The majority of fungi in this world are beneficial, because without these fungi we wouldn't have some of the finer things in life such as beer or Agaricus bisporus that adorns salads and pizzas as a topping. However, there are plenty of them that cause problems for us in the form of plant diseases.
Fairy ring mushroom (Photo: B. Shew) |
A fairy ring in Raleigh, NC (Photo: Lee Butler) |
"Plucked from the Fairy Circle" - A man saves his friend from the grip of a fairy ring. From British Goblins: Welsh Folklore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (1880) |
Fairy Ring on NCSU Campus (Photo: B. Shew) |