Marasmius

Marasmius Fr.

            Marasmius is a genus of mushroom-forming fungi in the family Marasmiaceae. It contains about 500 species (Kirk et al. 2008) of which a few, such as Marasmius oreades, are edible. However, most members of this genus are small, unimpressive, brown mushrooms. Their humble appearance contributes to them not being readily noticeable to the layman, and therefore these mushrooms are seldom collected by mushroom hunters. Quite a few of the species are known to grow in the characteristic fairy ring pattern.