A Mushroom on my lawn

“I am... a mushroom;

On whom the dew of heaven drops now and then."

- John Ford

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!


Field mushroom (Agaricus campestris) 3cm diameter and 4cm tall - in Moleskine Watercolour sketch-book - Maree©

This mushroom popped through my lawn yesterday and is white with the most gorgeous pink underside and small indented warts on the cap. At the moment it is 1½" in diameter and about 1½" tall - still a baby I think.

After Googling mushrooms, I found that it is an edible field mushroom, (Agaricus campestris) which is related to the edible button mushrooms often used in cooking and salads. But I wouldn't even think of trying to eat it, just in case! There are many similar mushrooms which are deadly.

The cap is white, may have fine scales, and is 5 to 10 centimetres (2.0 to 3.9 in) in diameter; it is first hemispherical in shape before flattening out with maturity. The gills are initially pink, then red-brown and finally a dark brown, as is the spore print. The 3 to 10cm (1.2 to 3.9 in) tall stipe is predominately white and bears a single thin ring. The taste is mild. The white flesh bruises slightly reddish, as opposed to yellow in the inedible (and somewhat toxic) Agaricus xanthodermus and similar, toxic species. The spores are 7–8 by 4–5 µm (micrometre), and ovate. Cheilocystidia are absent.


Field Mushroom (Agaricus campestris)
This common mushroom is edible.
It is related to the edible button mushrooms often used in cooking and salads.
Do not eat any mushrooms you're not sure of!
This info from Hilton College

At Gardening Eden, a nursery in South Africa, one can even buy mushrooms to plant in your garden!

Mushrooms belong neither to the animal nor plant kingdom, but form a phylum all on their own. This is due to the fact that unlike plants, fungi are unable to produce their own food through photosynthesis, as they lack chlorophyll, but resemble animals in their ability to draw their sustenance from animal and plant matter which is dissolved by enzymes and ingested.

Current estimates put the number of species in the fungal kingdom at approximately 1.5 million, in comparison with, for example, flowering plants at 250,000 species.

The role of fungi in the ecosystem is vital. Fungi are one of the largest contributors of the decomposition of organic matter, returning nutrients to the soil, which in turn is utilised to sustain other species of flora and fauna. The majority of the fungi kingdom cannot be seen with the naked eye, and needs to be viewed with a lens or microscope.

The reproduction unit of all fungi is known as the "spore". When this spore lands on a suitable substrate or base, and growth conditions are ideal, it will germinate by sending out a germ tube which becomes attached to the base or substrate.

This tube develops in to the "hyphae", which in turn will expand and develop into a network of hyphal threads, known as "mycelium". This mycelium, hardly ever seen, is the vegetative body of the fungus responsible for its nutrition and formation.

The mycelium will continue to grow and branch throughout the substrate for as long as it can obtain nutrients from it, and conditions of temperature and moisture remain favourable. This mycelium may continue to grow for a long time without forming any sex organs, but once two sexually differentiated mycelia meet, and plasmas of conjugating cells unite, if external conditions are ideal, a "fruit-body" will appear. A mushroom or toadstool etc. pops out of the ground!

(This info from Eco Travel Africa)


(Photo by Pamela Kaminski)