Coprinus comatus - Shaggy Inkcap

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Commonly referred to as either the Shaggy Inkcap or the Lawyer's Wig, Coprinus comatus is a large and conspicuous edible fungus. It occurs in meadows, woods and roadside verges. Now recognised as belonging to the family Agaricaceae, because it was the type species of the Coprinus genus it has taken that generic name with it. For this reason most other inkcaps now belong to the genera Coprinopsis, Coprinellus and Parasola, and they all now belong to the family Psathyrellaceae.

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 Initially egg-shaped and opening into a long bell, the shaggy caps are at first pure white pale brown area at the top that breaks up into large recurved scales. In dry weather the whole of the cap breaks into pale flaking scales that stand out from the cap surface. Rain flattens the scales, as has happened in the case of the group shown here. Typically 5 to 10 but occasionally 15cm tall and up to 6cm in diameter, the caps darken and then deliquesce from the lower edge, eventually leaving just the stipe with a very small black disc perched on top.
	Gills The adnexed to free gills are crowded and initially white. They soon turn pink and then black before deliquescing (liquefying) from the outside edge. In this picture the gills have begun to deliquesce from the rim inwards, and in a few hours the mushroom will have been reduced to little more than a stem with a small inky disc perched on the top. This picture was kindly submitted by Chris Monks.
	Stem The stem is parallel sided, 10 to 15mm diameter; white, quite brittle and hollow. The stem ring becomes stained with black spores; it soon becomes movable and often falls down to the base of the stem.
Spore print	Black.
Odour/taste	Faint and quite pleasant, but not distinctive.
Habitat	On grass verges, at the edges of footpaths, and in open woodland; often in small groups and occasionally in long, wandering lines.
Season	April to November, but most plentiful in summer and autumn; they appear in greatest abundance soon after rain.
Occurrence	Common.
Similar species	In the early stages of fruitbody development, Coprinopsis picaceus is very similar but is covered with tiny white scales which, as the cap turns grey and expands, stand out in distinct patches to give it a 'magpie-like' appearance - hence its common name Magpie Inkcap.