Shaggy Mane

not listed

NNR - Unranked

not listed

Shaggy Mane is a common and widespread mushroom easily recognized by it’s shape and it’s shaggy, dissolving cap. It is one of the “Foolproof Four”, the four most easily identified mushrooms. It is found either singly or in clusters, lines, or rings. It obtains its nutrients from decaying organic matter (saprobic). It usually appears in the summer and fall, but may also appear in the spring.

The cap when young is whitish with a brownish center, smooth, and dry. It is oval to cylinder-shaped, 2″ to 5½″ tall, and 1″ to 2″ wide, covering most of the stalk. As it matures it becomes bell-shaped with spreading and uplifted margins and large, shaggy scales. As it ages the margins dissolve progressively upward into black ink at that drips to the ground. The entire cap dissolves in a little as 24 hours.

The gills are white, closely spaced, and are not attached to the stalk. As they mature they quickly turn pink then black. As they release their spores they self-digest, turning into black ink at that drips to the ground.

The stalk is white, smooth, hollow, usually 2″ to 6″ tall, and ⅜″ to ⅝″ wide. Large individuals may be up to 8″ tall and ¾″ wide. At the base of the stalk is a slightly bulbous, cup-like structure (volva). This is a remnant of a protective, egg-like covering (universal veil) that completely envelopes the developing mushroom when young. It may be partially or completely buried in the ground. It adheres tightly to the stalk and is not sack-like. Toward the top of the stalk, below the cap and gills, is a membranous ring. This is the remnant of a protective covering (inner veil) of the developing gills.

The spores are black.

It has a mild, pleasant odor when young.

Lawns, gravel roads, disturbed sites.

Usually summer and fall, sometimes spring.

Sources

4, 7, 24, 26, 29, 30, 77.

Common and widespread

Agaruc.us splits the family Agaricaceae into five new families and Agaricaceae sens. str. (sensu stricto, “in the narrow sense”) when it's not clear to which family the species would belong. In this arrangement, the genus Coprinus is placed in the new family Coprinaceae. The split has not been generally accepted. Index Fungorum and MycoBank continue to place Coprinus in the family Agaricaceae.

Shaggy inkcap

Found in Cass County.

boulevard by Mayo Clinic

Shaggy Mane in the sand dunes area near the Lyndale Trailhead, Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Long Meadow Lake Unit

Lawyers Cap mushroom at Black Dog Fen. The stem part alone is about 8 or 9 inches long - top to bottom the thing was easily a foot high.

found in backyard 10-30-16

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Location: Cass County, MN

Location: Rochester, MN

boulevard by Mayo Clinic

Location: MN river bottom; Eden Prairie

Location: Martin County, Fairmont, MN

Location: U of MN Landscape Arboretum

Location: Desoto, Tx

Location: Mound, MN

Location: Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Long Meadow Lake Unit

Shaggy Mane in the sand dunes area near the Lyndale Trailhead

Location: Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Black Dog Unit

Lawyers Cap mushroom at Black Dog Fen. The stem part alone is about 8 or 9 inches long - top to bottom the thing was easily a foot high.

Location: Otter Tail County. Fergus Fall, MN

found in backyard 10-30-16