15 Friday Nov 2024
Posted in fungi
At well over 12 inches, these must be the tallest Shaggy inkcaps (Coprinus comatus) I’ve ever seen, spotted growing in a nearby coastal field earlier this week. And just this morning, on social media, I read a post by a ranger at RSPB Lakenheath Fen saying he’d also seen his biggest there this week. Something about this year’s climatic conditions must be suiting them.
14 Tuesday Nov 2023
Posted in fungi
Tags
British fungi, Coprinopsis lagopus, fungi in leaf litter, Hare's-foot, Hare's-foot inkcap, inkcaps, leaf litter
When I take photos of fungi, I often try to tidy up the scene a little first, plucking away stray twigs or flattening with my shoe the grass that’s obscuring the view of the actual fungi. In this particular situation, that was not possible, partly because I couldn’t get any closer to the fungi (which were on private land) and partly because, even if I could’ve moved closer, there was simply too much vegetation to remove without damaging their fragile forms. So, I decided to present these Hare’s-foot inkcaps (Coprinopsis lagopus) as they really were, small and elegant black-and-white parasols partially obscured amidst a colourful mess of small branches and leaf litter. A very autumnal scene.
19 Wednesday Oct 2022
They might look sturdy but these Shaggy inkcaps (Coprinus comatus) from yesterday’s walk would probably be gone if I had walked this way again today. You can see the taller one in the centre has already turned to mush, in the process producing a black ink that some people use for their artworks (see, for example, this work by Jo Brown, who creates amazing art inspired by fungi, and the rest of the natural world).
14 Tuesday Dec 2021
Posted in fungi
Time to add some fungi to this countdown. Earthstars would be too predictable so I’ve chosen instead to focus on some of the more common fungi that we all see when we’re out on our wanders: the inkcaps. They come in many shapes and sizes, grow in grass and dense woodland, are not always easy to identify, and are often to be found in a state of deliquescence (dissolving into black mush). Here’s a selection of this year’s finds.
30 Friday Oct 2020
Tags
British fungi, Coprinus comatus, deliquesce, deliquescence, inkcap fungus, inkcaps, Shaggy inkcap, slug, slug eating fungus
Deliquesce: verb; (of organic matter) become liquid, typically during decomposition. Mid 18th century from Latin deliquescere ‘dissolve’, from de- ‘down’ + liquescere ‘become liquid’ (Oxford Dictionary).
These Shaggy inkcaps (Coprinus comatus) may look sturdy and robust but, like all inkcaps and many other species of fungi, they only last a few days, sometimes as little as 24 hours, before turning into a rather disgusting-looking liquid mush, as shown by the specimen below. If you want to read more about the how and why of that process, about the inkcaps’ ‘habit of destroying themselves with their own enzymes’, check out The Dish on Deliquescence in Coprinus Species by Jonathan Landsman on the Cornell Mushroom blog.
Many humans may not know that inkcaps quickly deliquesce but slugs do. This slimy beastie was digging in to a Shaggy inkcap delicacy before the fungus had a chance to digest itself.
19 Wednesday Sep 2018
Tags
autumn fungi, confusing fungi, Coprinopsis lagopus, Coprinus comatus, fungus, Hare's-foot inkcap, inkcaps, Lawyer's wig, Shaggy inkcap
I think you can see how this shaggy little fungus got one of its common names, Lawyer’s wig, as it so well resembles the wigs lawyers wear in court. This is Coprinus comatus, also, not surprisingly, known as the Shaggy inkcap. Coprinus means ‘living on dung’ but this fungus really just prefers very rich soil with lots of decaying plant matter. These are usually found in groups of up to 20 individuals, and I found this little group of five along the edge of a woodland path, a fairly typical habitat.
Edit: My fungi friend Graham very kindly pointed out that I had mis-identified my initial find but, luckily, I saw some real Shaggy inkcaps today, so I have changed the photos above to show those.
The confusion species, which my initial photos (below) showed, was actually the Hare’s-foot inkcap (Coprinopsis lagopus). Perhaps you can see why I was confused by all that shagginess!
earthstar 
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