Coprinus comatus (O. F. Müll.:Fr.) Pers.
Tentamen Disp. Meth Fungorum: 62. 1797.

Common Name: Shaggy Mane

• Pileus

  Cap 5-14 cm tall, 2.5-4.5 cm broad, columnar, becoming bell-shaped; surface dry, white with a brown central disc, breaking up into coarse, white and brown, recurved scales; flesh thin, white, and soft; odor and taste mild.

• Lamellae

  Gills adnexed to free, crowded, white, becoming pink, then deliquescing from the margin into a black, inky liquid.

• Stipe

  Stipe 8-20 cm long, 1-1.5 cm thick, white, smooth, hollow, equal to bulbous at base, veil white, membranous, usually sliding to the bottom of the stipe.

• Spores

  Spores 12-16 x 7-8 µm, smooth, elliptical with an apical pore; spore print black.

• Habitat

  Scattered, grouped, or in dense clusters on disturbed ground or grassy areas; found frequently along roadsides, paths and in playing fields; fruiting any month of the year when moisture is available but most abundant soon after the fall rains.

• Edibility

  Edible and choice, but must be cooked quickly before the caps turn to ink.

• Comments

  With its distinctive columnar, shaggy cap which dissolves into ink at maturity, Coprinus comatus is one of the easiest of all mushrooms to recognize. Coprinopsis atramentaria, another inky cap, is somewhat similar, but has a smooth to fibrillose, not scaly cap surface, and lacks the elongated cap shape of C. comatus.

• References

  Bougher, N.L. & Syme, K. (1998). Fungi of Southern Australia. University of Western Australia Press: Nedlands, Australia. 391 p.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
• Michael Boom: Coprinus comatus (CP)
• Brother Alfred Brousseau: Coprinus comatus (CP)
• Tom Duffy: Coprinus comatus (CP)
• Taylor F. Lockwood: Coprinus comatus (CP)
• Taylor F. Lockwood: Coprinus comatus (CP)
• Robert Mackler: Coprinus comatus (CP) -- deliquescing specimen
• Fred Stevens: Coprinus comatus (CP)
• Fred Stevens: Coprinus comatus (CP) -- young, middle aged, old
• Fred Stevens: Coprinus comatus (CP) -- cultivated sporocarps
• Nathan Wilson: Coprinus comatus (CP)
• Michael Wood: Coprinus comatus (CP)
• Michael Wood: Coprinus comatus (CP)
• Michael Wood: Coprinus comatus (CP) -- post deliquiscent
• Michael Wood: Coprinus comatus (CP) -- a fresh one
• Michael Wood: Coprinus comatus (CP) -- let's take it home!
• Boleslaw Kuznik -- Hunting for Mushrooms: Coprinus comatus (CP)
• Tom Volk's Fungus of the Month: Coprinus comatus (D & CP)
• A Few Good Mushrooms: Coprinus comatus (D & CP)
• Na Grzyby: Coprinus comatus (D & CP)
• Informationszentrale gegen Vergiftungen der Universiteat Bonn: Coprinus comatus (D & CP)
• Pilzgalerie.de: Coprinus comatus (CP)
• Pilze, Pilze, Pilze: Coprinus comatus (CP)
• Kinok-ya: Coprinus comatus (CP)
• Coprinus Site: Coprinus comatus (D & CP)
• Arora (1986): p. 345 (D& P), plate 85 (CP)
• Arora (1991): p. 132 (CP), p. 133 (D & CP)
• Breitenbach & Kränzlin (vol. 4): sp. 270 (D, I, & CP)
• Fischer & Bessette: p. 47 (D), p. 48 (CP)
• Jordan: p. 229 (D & CP)
• Lincoff: p. 597 (D), plate 704 (CP)
• McKenny et al.: p. 155 (D & CP)
• Miller: sp. 188 (D & CP)
• Phillips: p. 204 (D & CP)
• Smith: sp. 219 (D & CP)
• Smith & Weber: sp. 178 (D & CP)



(D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)