News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
All the rain of the last two weeks and you may be noticing mushrooms growing in your yards, a local expert said that is typical.
Steve Roberts is President of the Cumberland Mycological Society. He said mushrooms come from fine white strands underground called Mycelium. Roberts said seeing mushrooms this time of year not uncommon as we are in the mushroom season.
“When the conditions are right and when you get the right temperatures and moisture they may fruit,” Roberts said. “Then so you see the fruiting body of that mycelium and that is the mushroom. They aren’t there, so while the mycelium while it’s there you only see the fruiting body sporadically.”
Roberts warns residents that even though some mushrooms present medical benefits for consumption, some mushrooms are very poisonous and can be deadly if consumed. Roberts said if you are intrigued by the mushrooms, do research on them and make sure pets and children stay away from them until the mushrooms are identified.
“The only way to know is to learn what the mushrooms are,” Roberts said. “So you have to do some studying. There is no real simple easy answer like because this one is this color or this size, is this going be edible? You really have to learn them and know them and kind of get into the science of them a little bit.”
Roberts said the Upper Cumberland has lots of different species and that the ones popping in yards can vary.
“There will be a lot of kinds of mushrooms,” Roberts said. “We would call those macrofungi. Macro means things that you can see as opposed to microfungi which are the fungi you can’t see. There are all kinds of fungi in the world. Probably thousands, and in this area there are a lot of them too. There is not really any particular kind, just a whole lot of them.”
Roberts said mushrooms in a yard are harmless to the yard. Roberts said if you are concerned about them then you can dig them up but digging them up will not prevent future growth.
