fungus

anyone know what type this is..should I lift & destroy...

I'm not a fungus expert.

But this is the time of year when fungi make an appearance. If you look carefully you may find dozens of different kinds, in various parts of a garden. There are many which grow in open grass.

Fungi play an important role in the ecology of the garden. Many living trees and shrubs require closely related fungi in order to thrive (mycorrhizal fungi). If a tree is dead, then different fungi will help the decay.

There are very few fungi which are dangerous to living plants. The one notable fungus which is dangerous to plants is Honey Fungus. But merely removing the top won't control that fungus.

Identifying fungi is immensely difficult to anyone who is not an expert. To my mind, the fungus you have doesn't look like Honey Fungus, which normally has a flatter top and broader stem,though there are various forms, and I am not certain. You need better identification. If any nearby trees look sick then that would be a warning.

I just leave them alone.

Gary's right. Even if you take away the fruiting bodies, which you can see, the main part of the fungus is the mycelium which is spread out underground or within the decaying matter if it's on something that's breaking down. Ones have been discovered in the US (where else?) that are hundreds of acres in spread!! And sadly for the forests these are armillaria types which are kinds of honey fungus.

thanks both of you..

I love this time of year when we get lots of different fungi in the garden - I was so pleased to find a tiny shaggy ink cap growing at the edge of the lawn, I was just about to show my other half, when I stepped on it   Hope we get some more 

Took these snaps in my garden yesterday afternoon. I think it's still a bit early for most fungi. I'm not certain what any of their names are...

Possibly Shaggy Ink Cap????....

HI

I have something like(1st pic) growing in my garden and want to get rid off.. what to do?

Hi Hiral Thaker - the toadstools are the fruiting body of underground fungi and have appeared because  of the current weather conditions and time of year.  As the weather turns cooler they will cease to grow.  

If you wish to remove them to enable you to mow the lawn just brush them away with a stiff brush or scoop them up and add them to your compost heap where they will break down and add to the nutrients.  

As Gary has said, they play an important part in the ecology of the garden, and they are beautiful. 

This is an image from 'The Magical Forest', which was shown on BBCHD on Monday...

The green nodes represent separate trees in a wood. The connecting lines represent the long underground threads of fungi. The fungi collect nutrients which they pass to the trees. Remarkably, the fungi also connect the root systems of separate trees together. The fungi are vital to the growth and survival of trees.

You can buy mycorrhizal fungi spores from many garden centres. Dusting the roots of roses and fruit trees, when planting them, will help the plants to become established. These are some customer reviews about using mycorrhizal fungi, at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B0040U858K/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Plants such as comfrey are particularly successful in collecting nutrients because of their connections with fungal networks.

This is the BBC webpage for 'The Magical Forest':
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01klx6p

The Magical Forest program is not available on iPlayer, but viewers can buy the series on DVD.

This time of year I have a number of small fungi on my back lawn,and I love to see them there. I don't touch them, just have a good look and pass on. Nature has a purpose for everything and I just hate the fact mankind seems to want to kill or destroy everything it does not understand. Not having a go at anyone on this site, just a bee I have in my bonnet!

they r wank