Also called the Lawyer’s Wig, this can be quite a large and impressive mushroom with a tall cap. When it opens up the cap and white gills gradually blacken and dissolve into black ink from the edge upwards to release its spores. Eventually the cap will melt away completely until only the stem remains.
Seen late summer to autumn, it is found solitary or in groups on grass, soil, and waste areas, especially where the ground has been disturbed.
Also called ‘Lawyer’s Wig’ or ‘Shaggy Mane’, this is a fairly tall and impressive mushroom. They are elongated or egg-shaped, becoming bell-shaped and turning up black at the base. It has brownish-greyish flesh with white shaggy brown-tipped scales. The cap width is variable, but it can grow up to 10cm tall.
It fruits late summer to autumn. Found solitary or in groups on grass, soil, and waste areas, especially where the ground has been disturbed. It is widespread and very common.
Photograph of Shaggy Inkcap (Coprinus comatus) taken November 2011, nature reserve, Staffordshire. © Pete Hillman 2011. Camera used Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38.
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