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fairy-ring mushroom

fairy-ring mushroom

8.4
A mushroom that grows in a circle on grass
  • noun
translation icon : seta de anillo de hadas
  • We spotted a circle of fairy-ring mushrooms in the park after the rain.

Examples

  • The fairy-ring mushroom is known for its distinctive growth pattern.

  • Look at that fairy-ring mushroom growing in the grass!

  • Some people collect fairy-ring mushrooms for culinary purposes, but caution is advised.

  • I found a beautiful fairy-ring mushroom in the park.

  • We spotted a circle of fairy-ring mushrooms in the park after the rain.

  • Some people collect fairy-ring mushrooms for culinary purposes, but caution is advised.

  • Look at that fairy-ring mushroom growing in the grass!

Synonyms

Marasmius oreades
vsfairy-ring mushroom
  • Specialized
9.9

A small edible mushroom that grows in grass in round groups called the fairy ring mushroom

is a general term for mushrooms that grow in circular rings in grass

Surface Forms

Morphology

fairy-ring + mushroom

The noun is compositionally built from 'mushroom' and the modifier 'fairy-ring', so a learner who knows 'fairy' and 'ring' can likely infer it refers to a mushroom associated with a ring-shaped growth. However, 'fairy-ring' encodes a specific folkloric/biological concept (a circular patch of fungi) that may not be fully predictable without exposure, so the meaning is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Fairy-ring mushroom comes from a simple picture: people long ago saw mushrooms growing in a neat ring in the grass and imagined fairies dancing there, leaving the circle behind. So the name now means a mushroom that grows in a 'circle' on the ground.