Coprinopsis nivea - Snowy Inkcap

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Coprinopsis nivea (syn. Coprinus niveus) is a rather fragile inkcap species with a chalky coating (velar remains) on the caps and stems of young specimens. Initially white, the gills autodigest as the fruitbody ages.

The Snowy Inkcap is a dung-loving mushroom, and most often it is found on old horse dung or on cow dung, particularly where dung and straw from stables or from cow sheds has been piled up and left to rot.

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 As in the immature specimen illustrated here, the cap is initially egg-shaped, like many of the inkcap mushrooms. Later it expands to become bell shaped, sometimes opening out like an umbrella and occasionally splitting at the margin. A distinctive white, mealy covering of tiny veil fragments adheres to the cap, which is 2 to 5cm in diameter at maturity.
Gills	The free gills are initially white, becoming grey and eventually black as they begin deliquescing (turning into a black inky liquid).
Stem	4 to 7mm diameter and up to 9cm tall, the white stems are cylindrical with a slight thickening at the base, which is covered in cottony fibres.
Spore print	Black.
Odour/taste	Not distinctive.
Habitat	On cow dung, horse dung and manured rotting straw.
Season	May to November.
Occurrence	Fairly common.
Similar species	Coprinopsis atramentarius is larger and lacks the white granular cap covering. Coprinellus micaceus has a granular cap but is reddish-brown and grows on buried wood and at the base of tree stumps.