Mushrooms growing under fruit trees

[axescot]

We've been getting a lot of rain lately and all of a sudden I found these mushrooms growing under my fruit trees. The first image is from under my fig tree and the second and third are under my lemon tree. Both trees are fairly young (each about 2-3 feet tall). I already pulled them out so this is after the fact, but I was wondering, is it better to remove them so that they do not take nutrients from the fruit trees or is it beneficial to keep them as part of the overall micro-ecosystem?

 

[Marck]

These mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of harmless, saprophytic fungi that are digesting the wood chip mulch. They will not harm your fruit trees and are an essential part of healthy, living soil.

The fungus in the first pic is an Inky Cap, either Coprinellus flocculosus or a similar Coprinoid fungus.
The plant in the corner of the shot is Euphorbia maculata, a common garden weed.
The fungus in the second and third pics is Earth-oyster (Hohenbuehelia petaloides).

 

[Oliver Buckle]

The ink cap I know, they grow on buried dead wood I believe. The edge of the cap turns liquid and drips black when they are mature, quite tasty when young, but be careful, the poisonous fungi are ones that grow in those sort of conditions, ones that grow in open meadow land are edible on the whole, though there are some psilosybins that may give you hallucinations they won't kill you.
When the Bank of England was printing the first five pound notes they included ink caps in the ink mixture, but kept the recipe secret. It meant that the spores could be seen under magnification, though people were unaware what they were, and forgeries detected.

Let them grow, they do a good job breaking down material and making nutrients available, and the main part of them is the mycelium, a fine web of threads that can extend over quite an area and will usually reproduce if you divide it, the bit above ground is just the fruiting body, so actually getting rid of them would be nigh on impossible

 

[Marck]

The trait of auto-digestion and release of spores in a liquid mass seems to have evolved multiple times. Some Inky Caps (Coprinus s.s.) are in Agaricaceae, the same family as the common, cultivated mushroom (Agaricus bisporus). Other Inky Caps (Coprinellus, Coprinopsis and Parasola) are now in another Family, Psathyrellaceae. Different species specialize in consuming organic matter at different stages of decomposition.

Do be knowledgeable and certain if you are going to consume wild mushrooms.
Identifying a mushroom as edible based solely on the habitat in which you found it is not prudent.

 

[axescot]

I wasn't planning to eat anything! I'm not that brave! Sounds like they are good for the trees and will leave them in the future.

 

[Marck]

I wasn't planning to eat anything! I'm not that brave! Sounds like they are good for the trees and will leave them in the future.

Yes, the best benefit is just to have fungi doing their work in the environment.
I myself, do occasionally gather edible wild mushrooms, but only when I'm sure of the identification and I like the taste.
I just thought I should address what the previous poster said about all mushrooms in 'open meadow land' being edible.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I didn't say 'all' Marck, but 'on the whole'. The real nasties grow on buried wood, and you can get the odd bit anywhere, I agree, be cautious.

 

[GardenOfEnglandGardener]

These mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of harmless, saprophytic fungi that are digesting the wood chip mulch. They will not harm your fruit trees and are an essential part of healthy, living soil.

The fungus in the first pic is an Inky Cap, either Coprinellus flocculosus or a similar Coprinoid fungus.
The plant in the corner of the shot is Euphorbia maculata, a common garden weed.
The fungus in the second and third pics is Earth-oyster (Hohenbuehelia petaloides).

Yeah, I was going to say, it really depends on the fungi which is growing. Fungi in general are part of a healthy environment. I'm always excited when I see the bell of a mushroom in our garden. We had a quirky one growing under the Himalayan birch and it was obviously taking advantage of all of the decomposing leaf litter.

I remember one time I was trying to grow beans and I ended up growing those mini umbrella-cap mushrooms. Look like something straight out a fairy-tale scene. I thought they were cute anyway... apparently they only grow at night which is fascinating, seeing as the day prior I could have sworn they were not there.

 

[Enonymous]

We've been getting a lot of rain lately and all of a sudden I found these mushrooms growing under my fruit trees. The first image is from under my fig tree and the second and third are under my lemon tree. Both trees are fairly young (each about 2-3 feet tall). I already pulled them out so this is after the fact, but I was wondering, is it better to remove them so that they do not take nutrients from the fruit trees or is it beneficial to keep them as part of the overall micro-ecosystem?

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There's plenty of great apps that help you to identify mushrooms too