Concept
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Basidiomycota: The Club Fungi
Fruiting bodies of a basidiomycete
The fruiting bodies of a basidiomycete form a ring in a meadow, commonly called "fairy ring." The best-known fairy ring fungus has the scientific name Marasmius oreades. The body of this fungus, its mycelium, is underground and grows outward in a circle. As it grows, the mycelium depletes the soil of nitrogen, causing the mycelia to grow away from the center, leading to the "fairy ring" of fruiting bodies where there is adequate soil nitrogen.
Source
Boundless vets and curates high-quality, openly licensed content from around the Internet. This particular resource used the following sources:
"OpenStax College, Classifications of Fungi. October 17, 2013."
http://cnx.org/content/m44625/latest/Figure_24_02_06.jpg
OpenStax CNX
CC BY 3.0.