Scaly Ink Cap

not listed

NNR - Unranked

not listed

Scaly Ink Cap is a common, easily recognized mushroom. It occurs in the United States and southern Canada east of the Great Plains. It is found in June and July in large clusters or in groups. It grows on decaying hardwood logs. It obtains its nutrients from decaying wood (saprobic). Clusters of mushrooms emerge from a brown mat of mycelial strands (ozonium).

When it first appears, the cap is oval and whitish. It is covered with large, loose, whitish to yellowish-tan scales, remnants of the partial veil. As it ages it expands, becoming bell-shaped, and turns gray to grayish-brown. Eventually it becomes flat, and the margins are rolled upward.

The stalk is white, hollow, and felty or woolly. It is 1½″ to 4¾″ (4 to 12 cm) long, up to ⅜″ (1 cm) thick, and more or less the same size from top to bottom. It sometimes has a cottony sheath near the base, another remnant of the partial veil, but there is no true ring on the stalk.

The gills are white when young, broad, crowded, and not attached to the stalk (free). They turn purplish-gray then black as they age. Eventually they liquefy (deliquesce), turning to ink.

The flesh is thin and whitish. It is edible in the sense that it is not poisonous. However, the taste is bitter, and it contains the chemical coprine, which is poisonous when combined with alcohol.

The spore print is black or blackish-brown.

Shaggy Mane (Coprinus comatus) fruits in late summer and autumn.

Decaying wood

June to July

Sources

4, 24, 26, 29, 30, 77.

Common

Scaly Ink Cap was previously classified as Coprinus variegatus in the family Agaricaceae. A molecular DNA study published in 2001 showed that most of the species in the genus Coprinus were only distantly related to the type species Coprinus comatus. All but three species were moved to the new family Psathyrellaceae and assigned new genera.

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Location: Hennepin County

Location: Hennepin County

Location: Dayton Ohio