Coprinus disseminatus - Fairy Inkcap

Coprinellus disseminatus - Fairy Inkcaps

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

The Fairy Inkcap Coprinus disseminatus, sometimes called the Trouping Inkcap or Trooping Crumble Cap, forms dense masses on rotting tree stumps and roots.

These gregarious little fungi occur from early spring until the onset of winter, and they are at their most spectacular when the caps are young and pale - sometimes nearly pure white. It takes just two or three days for young white caps to turn grey and then begin blackening.

Note: inkcap is sometimes written as ink-cap or ink cap, and in the USA the terms inky cap or inky-cap are used.

Identification guide

Cap	Typically 0.5 to 1.5cm in diameter and initially 1 to 1.5cm tall, flattening as they open out, the caps are at first egg-shaped, then bell-shaped often with slightly upturned margins. Beige when young, the pleated caps turn grey and then blacken somewhat from the margin.
Gills	The adnate gills are white, turning grey and then black as the spores mature. When fully mature they do not dissolve rapidly into an inky fluid, as many of the ink caps do.
Stem	The thin, hollows stems are white and very fragile.
Spore print	Black.
Odour/taste	Not distinctive.
Habitat	On and beside stumps and rotting wood.
Season	August to November.
Occurrence	Quite common, both in woodland and on stumps in shaded hedgerows.
Similar species	Coprinellus micaceus grows in tufts, but rarely in such massive groups; it has larger, tan caps which are covered in tiny glistening veil fragments when young.