Those who have lawns know this common problem: Mushrooms popping up in the yard in clusters.
I’ve had this problem myself. One reader noted there was originally a wood in this subdivision.
Oak trees are wonderful plants in many ways, but mushrooms associated with them can be a serious concern. I am not going to claim to be an expert at identifying these mushrooms, but I can help inform you on how to get rid of them.
This toxic mushroom originates from Europe. This explains why you find this mushroom around our non-native trees. A similar mushroom called Ceasar’s mushroom was not the one potentially eaten by Roman Emperor Claudius in AD 54 and Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI in 1740, from which they died from kidney failure.
In any issue that I address, I first have to identify what the problem is the first step in the solution.
When I look at this mushroom, I first see a white stalk and a large round bulb at the base; it also has a small, somewhat ruffled collar around the neck of the stalk.
The top of the cap was about 3 inches on the more mature mushrooms and was whitish. I did not see any tree where the mushroom could have been attached, but they were all over the yard as reported.
The mushrooms varied in maturity: the youngest were egg-like, the middle ones resembled a rounded umbrella, and as they matured, they looked more like an open umbrella with a smooth cap.
The gills were white under the cap, very crowded, and terminated randomly. Spores under the cap are white.
Personally, I liked this last identification the best. These mushrooms smelled like rose petals. I feel fairly confident that these mushrooms are Death Cap mushrooms, or Amanita phalloides.
Biochemical research on this mushroom reveals two separate toxins that can kill us — both multicyclic (ring-shaped) peptides spread throughout the mushroom tissue: amatoxins and phallotoxins.
Phallotoxins have shown some hemolytic (red blood cell- destroying) activity in vitro. The amatoxins attack our RNA and can kill our liver and kidneys quickly. Research in Munich, Germany has revealed what these toxic mushrooms do to the body.
Just 30 grams or 1 ounce is strong enough to kill a human in 48 hours if untreated. In 2006, a family of three from Poland died after eating them.
Survivors normally require liver transplants, and experts recommend that you don’t place other mushrooms in contact with this mushroom. Evidence conflicts on whether to handle this mushroom with bare hands. Initial exposure to these mushrooms will cause the victim to vomit and have severe diarrhea.
Death caps are believed to be the most poisonous mushroom on the planet. This sort of poisoning demands hospitalization quickly.
Removing this mushroom from your yard will be a challenge. Remove each cluster by hand as best you can. I strongly recommend wearing gloves to keep your hands from touching the death caps. Remove each cluster early, before the little umbrella opens.
Mushrooms thrive in dense soil, with shade, and moisture. Normal sorts of pesticides don’t work. Mushrooms are in a different Kingdom from recent reclassifications of the animal kingdoms.
From what I know, mushrooms do well in high-pH, poor soil. As I recall, the lawn these people had generally looks fairly good. My friends fertilized their lawns well.
These mushrooms will succumb to high-acid conditions. Mix one part vinegar with two parts water. Pour the mixture into a spray bottle. Douse every Death Cap mushroom in your yard.
Repeat this application every time you see them. Aerate the lawn so that the environment for the mushroom is less than ideal. Mow the lawn as low as possible as new clusters appear; this will also help control the death caps.
If you let any caps begin to show, you’ve compounded the problem. Mowing caps releasing their spores will extend the mushroom’s control even further. The alternative is very dramatic.
There is a source below the soil; we don’t really know how deep, but I can’t imagine it’s more than a few feet.
Therefore, each spot would have to be opened up, and you would have to find each source.
As you might imagine, you must remove each source to really get rid of the death cap. So you need to dig, grind, and drill out each source of the mushroom cluster.
Death cap mushrooms are invasive and spread quickly. Because they are highly toxic, you’ll want to get rid of them if you notice them in your yard.
If you have any gardening questions, please email me at ericlarson546@yahoo.com.