Need to Identify a strange Fungus - Ask Extension
We have a very odd/ugly/gnarly looking fungus growing throughout our lawn this year we need help identifying so we can eliminate it. It starts out as ...
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Need to Identify a strange Fungus #206090
Asked August 11, 2014, 7:17 PM EDT
We have a very odd/ugly/gnarly looking fungus growing throughout our lawn this year we need help identifying so we can eliminate it. It starts out as a white(ish) looking root and grows into a very large brown ugly looking mushroom. We have tried digging it up from the roots and it continues to grow all over our lawn. I have photographs with this for you to view to assist with this. We had a lot of new dirt brought here to rebuild our home 3 years ago after a house fire. I wonder if this was hidden in the dirt? It is an ugly mess that is taking over our lawn. These "creatures" grow to the size of a head of cauliflower. Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated.
Sussex County Delaware
Expert Response
Hello,
Thank you for contacting Delaware Cooperative Extension. You may receive a short survey after the answer to this question.
The fruiting bodies are difficult to see in the pictures. Are they covered in soil, or is that the color they maintain? Are they soft and powdery, or hard? Regardless, the fruiting bodies look like Basidiomycete fungi that are wood decay organisms. You indicated that you had soil brought in to the property. Many times top soil will be scraped from places where trees are cleared, and it looks like you were given a load of soil that had some wood rotting organism in it, and probably had some tree residue such as roots and pieces of branches. The fungi are natural decomposers and given enough moisture they will continue to work on the debris in the soil. These particular fungi should not be plant disease causing organisms in your landscape. You are probably already doing the only thing you can by raking and removing the fruiting bodies that produce more spores. The fungi will eventually break down the wood and organic matter that they came in on, but it may take a year or two. There are some fungicides that may be applied by professional lawn care companies, but that would be expensive.
My best,
Nancy
Thank you for contacting Delaware Cooperative Extension. You may receive a short survey after the answer to this question.
The fruiting bodies are difficult to see in the pictures. Are they covered in soil, or is that the color they maintain? Are they soft and powdery, or hard? Regardless, the fruiting bodies look like Basidiomycete fungi that are wood decay organisms. You indicated that you had soil brought in to the property. Many times top soil will be scraped from places where trees are cleared, and it looks like you were given a load of soil that had some wood rotting organism in it, and probably had some tree residue such as roots and pieces of branches. The fungi are natural decomposers and given enough moisture they will continue to work on the debris in the soil. These particular fungi should not be plant disease causing organisms in your landscape. You are probably already doing the only thing you can by raking and removing the fruiting bodies that produce more spores. The fungi will eventually break down the wood and organic matter that they came in on, but it may take a year or two. There are some fungicides that may be applied by professional lawn care companies, but that would be expensive.
My best,
Nancy
Thank you for your prompt response back to me. To answer your questions, they are very firm and tough to the touch and this is their color. They are not covered with any soil. These particular ones are growing under our blue spruce trees.
However, there are additional ones that are growing in the open areas in our yard, different from the ones photographed in these photographs. These are smaller but, still nasty looking. They look like a bunch of small white pimple looking fungus that then grow into a hard white looking root. Very ugly and these are the ones taking over our lawn. I see a lot of money in our near future to eliminate these. I truly hope I am wrong. Once I have additional ones pop up, I will photograph them as well.
Hello,
The fruiting bodies may just need to run out of wood chips and roots to exist on and will subside after time.
Nancy
The fruiting bodies may just need to run out of wood chips and roots to exist on and will subside after time.
Nancy
Hello,
The
specimens of fruiting bodies that were sent in are the same as the ones
I received photos of on the Ask an Expert page. A second e-mail with
the photos went to a Master Gardenr who gave an answer but perhaps
didn't know the specifics of the situation and the identification of the
Basidiomycete fungal fruiting bodies.
I
know you mentioned that soil had been brought in to the yard following a
fire on the location. These fungi are found in wood and soil debris,
and they are wood-rotting and mycorrhizal organisms (grow in association
with plant roots).
The
larger brown soft leathery ones are the false wood dyer's puffball,
Pisolithus. It is common near evergreens and oaks, and can be
mycorrhizal. It can grow in very poor soil conditions and re-claimed
soils. Perhaps if you get a soil test and pick up the pH of your soil,
you may discourage it.
The
other specimen is of a wood rotting and plant pathogenic fungus
Ganoderma. This fungus will cause a heart rot and a rot of the lower
trunk near the soil line on trees. As long as there are pieces of wood
chips in the soil in your yard, this fungus will continue to grow, but
it should be reduced over time. You may want to treat areas near you
trees, as this one is a tree pathogen.
The
other yellowish gilled mushrooms in your photos are merely growing
because we have had adequate moisture this year. They are harmless.
Hope this helps, I have sent it as a reply to the online question as well as to the county agent in Sussex County, DE.
My best,
Nancy