It was a mushroom fairy ring, a big one -- about 16 feet in diameter, made up of mushrooms up to 10 or 11 inches across. Such circles of mushrooms are called fairy rings because people once thought the rings marked the spot where fairies had danced the night away. ... Judging from the size of the ring, he said, it could have been growing for 45 or 50 years. ... Some mushroom rings are thought to be hundreds of years old, or older.
