Mushrooms in Lawn: Why They Grow, Poisonous Types and Removal

Key takeaways

• University of Maryland Extension says there is no practical or permanent way to eliminate lawn mushrooms and that a fungicide will not get rid of them; they fade in dry weather and stop once their buried food has rotted (UMD Extension, 2025).
• The food is usually hidden: buried construction lumber, dead tree roots, or thatch thicker than 1/2 inch (UC IPM Pest Notes 74100; Purdue Plant and Pest Diagnostic Lab).
• The green-spored parasol (Chlorophyllum molybdites) is the most common mushroom cause of human poisonings in North America; it sickened 176 people in the North American Mycological Association (NAMA) case registry through 2005, none fatally (NAMA; Beug, Shaw and Cochran 2006).
• Amatoxin mushrooms (destroying angel, death cap, deadly galerina, Conocybe filaris) caused 16 of that registry’s 17 deaths, and their first symptoms wait 6 to 24 hours, so call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222 as soon as anyone eats a lawn mushroom (CDC MMWR 2017; PoisonHelp.org).
• U.S. poison centers logged 133,700 mushroom exposures from 1999 to 2016, 62 percent of them in children under 6 (Brandenburg and Ward, Mycologia 2018).

Why do mushrooms grow in my lawn?

Mushrooms grow in a lawn when a soil fungus that has been digesting buried organic matter gets several days of wet weather. UC IPM names buried construction lumber, dead tree roots and thatch as the usual food, and overirrigation or poor drainage as the trigger. The fungus lives in the soil for years; the mushroom is its short-lived, spore-bearing fruit (UC IPM Pest Notes 74100).

The working part of the fungus is the mycelium, a mat of threads that spreads through the food source (UMD Extension). Fruit bodies are brief: the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) gives a shaggy mane about 24 hours from emerging to dissolving into ink (MDC), and Clemson says lawn mushrooms vanish once the weather turns dry or colder (Clemson HGIC 2355).

Cause	What you see	Fix	Source
Buried wood: stump, old roots, construction lumber	Clusters in the same spot after each wet spell, sometimes in a line over a root	Dig out the wood, or wait: the fungi subside once the food is fully broken down	UMD; UC IPM
Tree root partners (mycorrhizal fungi)	Mushrooms under oaks, pines and other conifers	Leave them: many landscape trees grow poorly without these fungi	UC IPM
Mushrooms growing from a live trunk or surface roots	Honey-colored clusters at the tree base in fall, or shelf conks	Have an arborist check for Armillaria or Ganoderma wood decay	UMD; UC IPM
Thatch over 1/2 inch	Scattered mushrooms across a spongy lawn	Dethatch, then aerate	Purdue PPDL
Overirrigation or poor drainage	Mushrooms after every watering cycle; soggy low spots	Water less often and deeper; core aerate	UC IPM
New sod	Small cone-capped Panaeolus foenisecii and Conocybe in the first weeks	None: they stop once the sod knits and watering drops	UC IPM
Fairy ring fungi	Arcs or circles of mushrooms, often with a dark green band	Match the fix to the ring type (next section)	UMD; Purdue BP-113

Season narrows the suspects. In Missouri, MDC lists the fairy ring mushroom from May to September, the green-spored parasol from July to September and the destroying angel from June to November (MDC; MDC; MDC); in Florida the green-spored parasol runs April to November (UF/IFAS PP324).

UC IPM calls lawn fungi “mostly beneficial” decomposers and notes that the fungi behind lawn diseases do not typically produce mushrooms (UC IPM). Brown patch, dollar spot and 14 other turf diseases are covered in our lawn fungus identification guide.

Do mushrooms hurt your grass?

Most do not: UC IPM calls lawn mushrooms usually harmless to grasses. The exception is a Type 1 fairy ring, where fungal mycelium makes the soil repel water and kills a band of turf during summer dry spells (UMD). Rings usually measure 1 to 20 feet across, 200 feet in rare cases, and expand about 3 to 19 inches a year (UMD Extension).

About 50 fungus species form fairy rings in turf, most often Marasmius oreades, Agaricus campestris, Lycoperdon puffballs and Scleroderma earthballs (Missouri Botanical Garden). The green band is fertilizer: the fungus releases ammonium that soil microbes turn into nitrate (Purdue BP-113). Two rings that meet stop rather than cross (UMD).

Fairy ring type	What you see	Why it happens	What to do	Source
Type 1: may kill turf	Three zones: lush inner edge, wilted or dead middle band, lush outer edge; mushrooms where the dead and outer zones meet	Mycelium repels water, so the middle band suffers drought stress	Core aerate the ring plus 2 ft on each side, apply a wetting agent, water the ring daily until the soil rewets	UMD; UF/IFAS LH046
Type 2: greener grass	Band of darker green, faster-growing turf, spring to winter	Nitrogen released as the fungus decays organic matter	Mask it: spoon-feed 0.1 to 0.25 lb nitrogen per 1,000 sq ft around the ring	UMD; Purdue BP-113
Type 3: mushrooms only	No grass symptom; mushrooms appear after rain, often in lawns mowed infrequently	Fungus fruits without changing the turf	Mow or pick the mushrooms; nothing else	UMD; UF/IFAS LH046

Fairy rings are slow to leave: UF/IFAS says they fade naturally but may take up to five years (UF/IFAS LH046). Purdue tells homeowners to aim for “peaceful coexistence”, masking rings with small nitrogen doses rather than excavation or fungicide (Purdue BP-113). Our lawn fertilizer guide shows how to turn a 0.25 lb nitrogen dose into pounds of product.

Which lawn mushrooms are poisonous?

The lawn mushrooms that send the most people to poison centers are the green-spored parasol, which causes violent vomiting but rarely kills, and the white amanitas and small brown Galerina and Conocybe species that carry amatoxins, the liver toxins behind 16 of 17 deaths in NAMA’s registry. Inocybe, Clitocybe and Scleroderma kill dogs more often than people (NAMA). None can be cleared by eye or from a photo.

A University of Georgia plant pathologist says specialists cannot positively identify a mushroom from a picture, and the one growing beside it may be a different species (UGA Extension). The 12 species below are those U.S. extension, conservation and veterinary sources place in lawns; field marks narrow the list but never prove a mushroom safe.

Mushroom	Where it shows up	Field marks	Toxin and severity	Source
Green-spored parasol, Chlorophyllum molybdites	Lawns and pastures, often in fairy rings; most common in the Southeast	Cap 1.8 to 11.8 in, white with tan scales; free gills that turn green; thick ring; green spore print	Gastrointestinal irritant: vomiting and diarrhea 1 to 2 hours after eating; rarely fatal	UF/IFAS PP324; MDC
Eastern destroying angel, Amanita bisporigera	Grass near trees, June to November; eastern and midwestern U.S.	All white; cap 2 to 5 in; white gills and spore print; skirt ring; saclike cup at the base, often hidden underground	Amatoxin: deadly; symptoms start 6 to 24 hours after eating	MDC; Merck Vet Manual
Death cap, Amanita phalloides	West Coast from California to British Columbia; East Coast from Maryland to Maine	Smooth yellowish-green to yellowish-brown cap; white gills, ring, spores and basal cup	Amatoxin: one cap can hold a lethal dose for a person or a dog	Merck Vet Manual
Deadly galerina, Galerina marginata	On logs and buried wood, where it can look like it grows from soil; mostly September to November	Sticky brown cap 1 to 2.5 in; ring on the stalk; rusty spore print	Amatoxin: symptoms 10 or more hours after eating	MDC
Conocybe filaris (Pholiotina)	Grassy areas and woody debris, late fall to midwinter	Small brownish, tacky cap; yellowish gills turning rust; ring on the stalk; rust-brown spores	Amatoxin	Merck Vet Manual; NAMA
Sweating mushroom, Clitocybe dealbata	Lawns and fairy rings, among fairy ring mushrooms	Small white to gray-pink cap, often with a sunken center; gills run down the stalk; white spores	Muscarine: sweating, salivation and tears 15 to 30 minutes after eating	MDC; Merck Vet Manual
Fiber caps, Inocybe species	Lawns near conifers and oaks	Small brown conical cap with a knob; no ring; gray-brown to rust spore print	Muscarine: lethal to dogs	Merck Vet Manual; NAMA
Fly agaric and panther, Amanita muscaria and A. pantherina	Under conifers and hardwoods; most abundant in the Pacific Northwest	Red to orange cap with white or yellow warts (fly agaric); brown cap with white patches (panther); ring; bulb at base	Ibotenic acid and muscimol: confusion and deep sleep 30 to 120 minutes after eating; can kill dogs and cats	Merck Vet Manual; NAMA
Earthballs, Scleroderma species	Lawns, often in fairy rings	Hard-rind ball with a black spore mass inside when cut	Gastrointestinal; lethal to dogs and pigs, not recorded in people	UC IPM 74100 (2012); NAMA
Jack-o’-lantern, Omphalotus illudens	Tight clusters at tree bases, on stumps or buried wood, July to October	Bright orange caps 2 to 8 in; sharp gills running down the stalk	Gastrointestinal: mild to severe; not life-threatening to healthy adults	MDC; UMD
Leucoagaricus naucinus	Lawns in fall	Creamy white smooth cap; free gills; ring; no cup; white spore print	Mild to severe gastric upset	Ovrebo 2004
Amanita thiersii	Lawns, often in fairy rings, summer and fall, alongside the green-spored parasol	White cap and stalk with a cottony coating that rain can wash off; white spore print	Toxicity little studied; its genus holds the deadliest species, so treat as poisonous	Ovrebo 2004

Size is no guide: the deadly list holds a 5-inch white amanita and two small brown species that MDC files with the “little brown mushrooms” it says never to eat (MDC). MDC’s 2018 guide adds that rain or handling can strip the ring and cup that mark an amanita, so beginners should avoid every parasol-shaped mushroom with white gills and a white spore print (MDC guide, 2018).

How do you tell the green-spored parasol from other white lawn mushrooms?

Take a spore print. The green-spored parasol is one of very few mushrooms with a green spore print, and UF/IFAS says that print, plus greenish gills, a cap up to 11.8 inches and a ring on the stalk, separates it from the parasols it resembles (UF/IFAS PP324). A print takes a few hours; it identifies a group, not a safe meal.

1. Cut the stalk off a mature mushroom whose cap has opened flat (Ovrebo 2004).
2. Set the cap gills-down on paper that is half white and half black, so both light and dark spores show (UGA Extension).
3. Cover it with a bowl or dish and leave it for several hours or overnight (UF/IFAS PP324).
4. Read the color: green means the green-spored parasol; blackish brown fits the meadow mushroom; rusty brown fits Galerina or Conocybe; white keeps the deadly amanitas on the list (UF/IFAS; MDC).
5. Throw the cap and print in the trash and wash your hands.

Which edible-listed lawn mushrooms have poisonous twins?

Five mushrooms that field guides list as edible share lawns with a poisonous double, which is why MDC tells collectors to spore-print every specimen or show it to an expert (MDC meadow mushroom). The pairs below show why lawn mushrooms cannot be cleared by eye; this page gives no eating advice, and MDC warns lawn mushrooms may carry lawn chemicals.

Listed as edible	Poisonous twin in the same lawn	Feature that separates them	Source
Meadow mushroom, Agaricus campestris	Destroying angel	Pink gills turning chocolate, blackish-brown spore print, no cup vs white gills, white print, saclike cup	MDC
Fairy ring mushroom, Marasmius oreades	Sweating mushroom; Inocybe	Widely spaced off-white gills, white print vs gills running down the stalk (Clitocybe) or gray-brown gills (Inocybe)	MDC
Shaggy mane, Coprinus comatus	Green-spored parasol	Tall cylindrical cap that turns to black ink, black print vs flatter cap, green print	MDC
Parasol and shaggy parasols, Macrolepiota procera, Chlorophyllum rhacodes	Green-spored parasol	White print vs green print	UF/IFAS PP324
Giant puffball, Calvatia gigantea	Amanita button; earthball	Pure white, marshmallow-like inside with no cap or stem outline when sliced top to bottom vs the outline of a cap and gills (amanita) or a black interior (earthball)	MDC; UC IPM

How fast do mushroom poisoning symptoms start?

Timing is the best early clue. The Merck Manual says mushrooms that cause symptoms within 2 hours are generally less dangerous than those that start after about 5 hours (Merck Manual Professional, April 2025). Muscarine acts in 15 to 30 minutes and the green-spored parasol in 1 to 2 hours, while amatoxins wait 6 to 24 hours and then attack the liver after a false recovery.

1. Muscarine (Clitocybe, Inocybe)0.25
2. Ibotenic acid (fly agaric, panther)0.50
3. Green-spored parasol1
4. Other gastrointestinal irritants0.33
5. Amatoxins (destroying angel, death cap, Galerina)6

Source: NAMA Mushroom Poisoning Syndromes; UF/IFAS PP324; CDC MMWR 2017 People. Merck Manual: symptoms within 2 hours generally signal a less dangerous mushroom than symptoms after about 5 hours.

Show the numbers

	Earliest onset	Latest typical onset
Muscarine (Clitocybe, Inocybe)	0.25	0.50
Ibotenic acid (fly agaric, panther)	0.50	2
Green-spored parasol	1	2
Other gastrointestinal irritants	0.33	4
Amatoxins (destroying angel, death cap, Galerina)	6	24

Toxin group	Lawn examples	First symptoms	What follows	Source
Muscarine	Sweating mushroom, Inocybe	15 to 30 minutes	Sweating, salivation, tears, slow pulse; usually mild and over within 12 hours in people	NAMA; Merck Manual
Ibotenic acid and muscimol	Fly agaric, panther	30 minutes to 2 hours	Confusion and deep sleep; about 24 hours of signs in animals	NAMA; Merck Vet Manual
Gastrointestinal irritants	Green-spored parasol, jack-o’-lantern, earthballs	20 minutes to 4 hours; green-spored parasol 1 to 2 hours	Vomiting and diarrhea for 4 hours to 7 days; most people recover within 24 hours; shock in severe cases	NAMA; UF/IFAS PP324
Amatoxins	Destroying angels, death cap, deadly galerina, Conocybe filaris	6 to 24 hours	Apparent recovery at 24 to 36 hours, then liver and multiorgan failure at 3 to 5 days	CDC MMWR 2017

A fast start does not clear a case: Merck’s veterinary chapter warns that a lethal and a mild species growing in the same spot may be eaten together, so early vomiting can hide a later amatoxin phase (Merck Veterinary Manual). Poison-center data show 86 percent of exposures cause no or only minor harm, and in both that data and NAMA’s registry amatoxins cause nearly every death (Mycologia 2018; Beug et al. 2006).

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

Measure	Figure	Period	Source
Mushroom exposures reported to U.S. poison centers	133,700 (7,428 a year)	1999 to 2016	Brandenburg and Ward, Mycologia 2018
Share in children under 6	62%	1999 to 2016	Mycologia 2018
Exposures with no or only minor harm	86%	1999 to 2016	Mycologia 2018
Exposures with major harm	704 (39 a year)	1999 to 2016	Mycologia 2018
Deaths	52 (2.9 a year); 68% to 89% from cyclopeptide (amatoxin) mushrooms	1999 to 2016	Mycologia 2018
Unintentional exposures, children 5 and under	50,323; 89.4% with no symptoms; 17 major outcomes; 2 liver transplants	2009 to 2023	Zmuda et al., Clinical Toxicology 2025
Child cases where the mushroom type was unknown	92.1%	2009 to 2023	Clinical Toxicology 2025
Naturally occurring mushroom exposures, single substance	7,090; 2,871 in children 5 and under; 74 major outcomes; 2 deaths (1,389 involved psilocybin mushrooms)	2024	NPDS 2024 Annual Report, Table 22A
NAMA registry: people sickened, all mushrooms	1,641; 17 deaths	Early 1970s to Dec. 2005	Beug, Shaw and Cochran 2006
NAMA registry: isoxazole group (fly agaric, panther)	218 sickened; 0 deaths	to Dec. 2005	Beug et al. 2006
NAMA registry: green-spored parasol	176 sickened; 0 deaths	to Dec. 2005	Beug et al. 2006
NAMA registry: amatoxin group	147 sickened; 16 deaths	to Dec. 2005	Beug et al. 2006
NAMA registry: psilocybin group	108 sickened	to Dec. 2005	Beug et al. 2006
NAMA registry: jack-o’-lantern (Omphalotus)	98 sickened	to Dec. 2005	Beug et al. 2006
Amatoxin death rate with prompt treatment	About 10% in the U.S. and Canada (about 50% without it)	Current	NAMA

1. Isoxazoles (fly agaric, panther)218
2. Green-spored parasol176
3. Amatoxins147
4. Psilocybin108
5. Jack-o'-lantern98

Source: Beug, Shaw and Cochran, McIlvainea 16(2), 2006, Table 1 Amatoxins caused 16 of the registry's 17 deaths; the other groups shown caused none. Voluntary reports, about 1% of poison-center mushroom cases.

Show the numbers

	People sickened
Isoxazoles (fly agaric, panther)	218
Green-spored parasol	176
Amatoxins	147
Psilocybin	108
Jack-o'-lantern	98

What should you do if a child or dog eats a lawn mushroom?

Call before symptoms appear. For a person, call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222, which reaches one of the 53 accredited U.S. poison centers at no cost, 24 hours a day (America’s Poison Centers). For a pet, call your veterinarian or an animal poison line. Then save the rest of the mushroom, base included, because the specialist’s first question is what it was.

1. Take any remaining pieces out of the mouth and note the time; hours to first symptom drive the prognosis (Merck Veterinary Manual).
2. Call 1-800-222-1222 for a person. Call 911 instead if the person has collapsed, had a seizure, has trouble breathing or cannot be woken (PoisonHelp.org). For a pet, call your veterinarian, the ASPCA line or Pet Poison Helpline.
3. Do not wait for symptoms. Amatoxin poisoning looks like nothing for 6 to 24 hours, and the false recovery that follows the first vomiting is not a cure (CDC MMWR 2017). In a 2024 poison-center case, a 69-year-old woman who ate mushrooms foraged from her yard fell ill about 10 hours later and died on day 4 of care (NPDS 2024, Case 298).
4. Make the person or pet vomit only if the poison specialist or veterinarian tells you to.
5. Dig up the same kind of mushroom whole, base included, because an amanita’s cup is often buried; keep any vomit; photograph cap, gills and base (MDC guide; UF/IFAS PP324).
6. Take the specimens to the emergency room or veterinary clinic if you are sent there, so a mycologist can examine them (Merck Manual).

Line	Number	Who answers	Cost	Source
Poison Help (people)	1-800-222-1222	Your regional poison center, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year	Free	America’s Poison Centers
ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center	(888) 426-4435	Veterinary toxicology staff, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year	A consultation fee may apply (amount not posted)	ASPCA
Pet Poison Helpline	(855) 764-7661	Veterinary toxicology staff, 24 hours a day	$99 per incident, follow-up calls included	Pet Poison Helpline
Emergency	911	Collapse, seizure, breathing trouble, cannot be woken	Free	PoisonHelp.org

Dogs face a different list than people. In NAMA’s registry, 8 of 11 dogs that ate amatoxin mushrooms died or were euthanized, and dogs also died from Inocybe and Scleroderma, which have no recorded human deaths (Beug et al. 2006). At one Northern California hospital, only 13 of 59 dogs treated for amanitin poisoning from 2006 to 2019 survived, and 36 were under a year old (Kaae et al., JAVMA 2021).

This page is general information, not medical or veterinary advice. If a person or animal may have eaten a wild mushroom, call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222 or your veterinarian now, even if there are no symptoms.

How do you get rid of mushrooms in your lawn?

You can remove the mushrooms in minutes but the fungus only over months or years. Pick or mow them and bag them before children or pets use the lawn, then take away what feeds the fungus: excess water, thatch over 1/2 inch and buried wood. UMD Extension says a fungicide “will not get rid of them” (UMD Extension).

Several consumer guides repeat fixes that UMD, UC IPM and Colorado State contradict; each claim sits beside the primary source below (UMD; UC IPM).

Claim on consumer pages	What the primary source says	Source
Spray a lawn fungicide to kill the mushrooms	Using a fungicide will not get rid of mushrooms; Colorado State does not recommend fungicides for mushrooms or fairy ring in lawns	UMD; CSU 1546
A vinegar or baking soda drench kills the fungus	Removing or damaging the mushroom does not kill the underground mycelium, which can form a mat 3 or more inches thick	UC IPM; UC IPM 2012
Dish soap gets rid of fairy rings	Colorado State says a few ounces of dish soap per gallon, with spring and fall aeration, will sometimes make a ring less noticeable; it does not claim a cure	CSU 1506
Pull them before they spread spores and they will stop	Spores blow in from neighboring areas, so picking only protects children, pets and appearance	UC IPM
Mushrooms mean the lawn has a disease	Fungi that cause lawn diseases do not typically produce mushrooms	UC IPM
Small brown lawn mushrooms are harmless	Galerina and Conocybe filaris carry amatoxins; Inocybe kills dogs	MDC; NAMA; NAMA dogs

1. Pick or rake up mushrooms and bag them for the trash every morning after rain if children or dogs use the lawn (UC IPM; Purdue PPDL). Elsewhere, mowing them is usually adequate (UF/IFAS LH046).
2. Water less often: about 1 inch a week for most growing lawns, early in the morning (UC IPM). See our guide to the best time to water your lawn.
3. Cut a 3-inch plug; if the brown thatch layer tops 1/2 inch, dethatch (Purdue PPDL). Prices are in our dethatching cost guide.
4. Core aerate compacted or soggy areas (UC IPM); timing is in our guide on when to aerate your lawn.
5. Dig out buried wood under a recurring cluster, or wait for it to rot (UMD). Stump grinding usually stops 4 to 12 inches below grade, so deeper roots keep feeding mushrooms; see our stump grinding cost guide.
6. Optional: speed decay with 1 lb of soluble nitrogen per 1,000 sq ft, such as 5 lb of ammonium sulfate (21-0-0), inside your normal fertilizer program (UC IPM 74100, 2012).

For a Type 1 fairy ring, probe the fungal mat with a long screwdriver: under 3 inches thick, core aerating a few times a year may break it up; thicker mats need a soil probe or auger, starting 2 feet outside the ring (UC IPM 74100, 2012). UMD’s last resort is digging out soil 12 inches deep and 2 feet beyond the visible edge (UMD). The worked example sizes each route for a 10-foot ring.

Step	Arithmetic	Result
Ring	Dead band 1 ft wide at a 10 ft outer diameter: inner radius 4 ft, outer radius 5 ft	Symptom band about 28 sq ft
Aeration zone (UMD: 2 ft on each side)	Radii 2 ft to 7 ft: 3.1416 × (7² minus 2²) = 3.1416 × 45	141 sq ft
Excavation volume (UMD: 12 in deep, 2 ft beyond the edge)	Same 141 sq ft × 1 ft deep = 141 cu ft ÷ 27	5.2 cu yd of soil out, fresh soil in
Masking with nitrogen (Purdue: 0.25 lb N per 1,000 sq ft)	141 ÷ 1,000 × 0.25 lb N; with a 21-0-0 product, 0.035 ÷ 0.21	0.035 lb N, about 0.17 lb (2.7 oz) of ammonium sulfate per feeding
Labeled fungicide (EPA Reg. No. 538-330 fairy ring rate: 4 lb per 1,000 sq ft)	141 ÷ 1,000 × 4 lb	0.56 lb per application, repeat after 28 days if needed
Same product, yearly cap (37 lb per 1,000 sq ft)	141 ÷ 1,000 × 37 lb	5.2 lb per year on that zone

Fungicides suppress fairy ring fungi at best. Scotts’ azoxystrobin granular, EPA Reg. No. 538-330 (sold as DiseaseEx), lists fairy ring, not mushrooms, at 4 lb per 1,000 sq ft every 28 days, and says symptoms may take 2 to 3 weeks to fade (EPA-accepted label, 2019). UF/IFAS notes fungicides do not remove the green or dead rings or cure dry soil (UF/IFAS LH046).

The label is the law: apply any fungicide only on a site the label allows, at the label rate, and check that it is registered in your state. Some states require a license to apply fungicides for hire; see our guide to the pesticide applicator license for lawn care.

Should you remove lawn mushrooms or leave them?

Leave them if nobody will eat them and the grass is fine; they help decompose organic matter and vanish in dry weather. Remove them daily if children under 6 or dogs use the lawn, since young children make up 62 percent of U.S. mushroom exposures (Mycologia 2018). Rings of dying grass, stumps and trunk mushrooms each need their own fix.

If your situation is	Do this	Why (source)
Anyone may have eaten a lawn mushroom	Call 1-800-222-1222 (people) or your vet now; save the mushroom with its base	Amatoxin symptoms start 6 to 24 hours later (CDC MMWR)
Children under 6 or dogs use the lawn	Pick, bag and trash mushrooms every morning during wet spells	62% of exposures are children under 6 (Mycologia 2018); dogs die from Inocybe and amanitas (NAMA)
Ring with a dead or straw-colored band and dry soil under it	Type 1 fairy ring: core aerate the ring plus 2 ft each side, wetting agent, water the ring daily	Mycelium repels water (UMD; UF/IFAS LH046)
Dark green ring, grass healthy	Mask with 0.1 to 0.25 lb N per 1,000 sq ft around the ring, or leave it	Nitrogen release is the cause (Purdue BP-113)
Clusters over a stump or root line	Dig out the wood or wait for it to rot	Fungi subside when the food is gone (UMD)
Mushrooms on a live tree’s trunk or surface roots	Have an arborist assess the tree	Armillaria and Ganoderma decay can kill trees (UMD)
New sod	Cut back watering once the sod knits; do nothing else	Establishment watering triggers them (UC IPM)
Thatch over 1/2 inch	Dethatch, then aerate	Thatch is the food source (Purdue PPDL)
No children or pets, grass healthy	Leave them or mow over them	They disappear when weather turns dry or cold (Clemson HGIC)

1. 1Did a person eat any part of a lawn mushroom?

   YesCall Poison Help, 1-800-222-1222, now, even without symptoms. Save the mushroom with its base.

   NoGo to the next question

2. 2Did a dog or cat eat one?

   YesCall your vet, the ASPCA line (888) 426-4435 or Pet Poison Helpline (855) 764-7661 now.

   NoGo to the next question

3. 3Is there a ring or arc of dead, straw-colored grass with dry soil under it?

   YesType 1 fairy ring: core aerate the ring plus 2 ft each side, add a wetting agent, water the ring daily.

   NoGo to the next question

4. 4Are the mushrooms growing from a live tree's trunk or surface roots?

   YesAsk an arborist to check for Armillaria or Ganoderma decay.

   NoGo to the next question

5. 5Do they cluster over a stump, an old root line or buried lumber?

   YesDig out the wood or wait for it to rot; pick mushrooms meanwhile.

   NoGo to the next question

6. 6Is the lawn new sod, watered after every dry day, or carrying thatch over 1/2 inch?

   YesCut back watering, dethatch over 1/2 inch, core aerate.

   NoLeave them or mow them; pick and bag daily if children under 6 or dogs use the lawn. They fade in dry or cold weather.

Source: UMD Extension; UC IPM 74100; UF/IFAS LH046; Purdue PPDL; CDC MMWR 2017; America's Poison Centers

For anything fruiting from a living tree, UMD recommends a certified arborist or licensed tree expert; our explainer on what an arborist does covers the credentials. More turf problems are indexed in our Turf and Trees section.

Question	Short answer	Best evidence
Do lawn mushrooms hurt grass?	No, except Type 1 fairy rings that dry the soil	UC IPM; UMD
Do fungicides stop them?	No; at best they suppress fairy ring fungi	UMD; UF/IFAS LH046
Most common poisoner?	Green-spored parasol: 1 to 2 hour vomiting and diarrhea	NAMA; UF/IFAS PP324
Deadliest?	Amatoxin species: destroying angel, death cap, Galerina, Conocybe filaris	CDC MMWR; Merck Vet Manual
Someone ate one?	Call 1-800-222-1222 or your vet before symptoms	America’s Poison Centers