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).
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!
