Can you please tell me what these are?

[jackbushnell]

They have been growing on my lawn for years and are in great abundance this time of year. I just wondered if they are edible, hullocinogenic, or poisonous. Also a species name would be good! They go a dark brown colour with a dirty beige ring around the top when damp, and all dirty beige when dry. thank you.

[Nick_in_Scotland]

Look like Fairy Ring Champignon, Marasmius oreades, to me but they're a bit too blurry to be sure (you need to turn on the macro function of your camera if it's got one to get them in focus). These tend to grow in circles in the grass and are associated with various folklore involving pixies, etc. Unfortunately there are similar Clitocybe species which can be extremely toxic. This is a shame because the Fairy Ring Champignon is good to eat, I would like to try it but am afraid of making a mistake!

[jackbushnell]

thank you, i will try to sort out some sort of better photo. just as an after thought they also have a nipple on the top, often slightly darker than the rest.

[AlanS]

Sorry to be blunt, but I feel that if anyone is going to suggest an edible species or use phrases like "good to eat", even with a mention of the possibility of other, toxic, species, they need to be very careful.

In this case, despite the poor focus, we can see that some of the fruitbodies have dark brown gills and a cap that is initially dark though drying much paler, so it cannot possibly be the Fairy-Ring Champignion.

We can also see that the cap is 'hygrophanous' (showing concentric bands of colour as it dries).

I won't be definite, as we do need a better photograph, but these characters plus general shape fit Panaeolina foenisecii, the Hay Cap, which happens to be hallucinogenic and toxic.

DO NOT TRY IT!

The white specimen might be one that has dried completely, but it looks like it may be something different. It still isn't Fairy Ring Champigion though, general shape is entirely wrong.

Alan

[Nick_in_Scotland]

Looking at the pic again yes there appear to be two different species there and one of them could very well be a Panaeolus type. I still think that the shape of the white one does look like M. oreades to me with the "Scotch Bonnet" cap.

I take your point about describing edibility and thank you for reminding me to be careful when talking about this. I would not want anyone to end up in hospital (or worse) after being encouraged to eat something poisonous that I had said was edible.

Nobody should eat any mushroom unless they are 100% sure of the identification and I totally agree that the original poster should NOT eat those mushrooms with the information given in this thread.

[jackbushnell]

thank you for the information thus far. i am nearly 100% sure they are all the same species, and must tell you from experimenting several years ago i made tea from about 30 of them, which i shared with a friend, and with no effects at all i don't believe. essentially, my aim is to correctly identify them, and find out as much as possible about the strain.

[jackbushnell]

using further internet research i have found that they certainly are Panaeolina foenisecii. thank you very much for your help. now, just out of interest, has anyone got any tips on finding Panaeolus subbalteatus?