Abundance: Uncommon
What: fruiting body (above ground parts)
How: Cooked
Where: Yards, leaf litter
When: spring, summer, fall
Nutritional Value: selenium, potassium, magnesium, vitamin D, and vitamin B6
Dangers: All wild mushrooms must be cooked before eating
COLLECTING MUSHROOM REQUIRES 100% CERTAINTY. WWW.FORAGINGTEXAS.COM ACCEPTS NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR IDENTIFICATION ERRORS BY ANY READERS.
Shaggy mane aka ink cap beginning to "deliquesce" or convert into ink goo. Note how the cap remains hanging down
A cluster of shaggy manes at different stages, from perfect eating to almost completely deliquesced.
One can try taking a spore print by setting the cap bottom-down on a piece a microscope slide or other piece of clear, colorless glass and then wait overnight. However, ink caps mainly spread their spores in the ink that they turn into, rather than dropping them from the gills, so most likely you'll just get a gooey, black puddle.
Harvesting triggers this melting, so be ready to cook them soon after picking. They can be used in all the traditional mushroom recipes but as with all wild mushrooms, they must be cooked to help break down their chitin, making it more digestible. Uncooked chitin causes stomach issues in many people. My personal favorite way to use them is in red sauces over pasta.
What: fruiting body (above ground parts)
How: Cooked
Where: Yards, leaf litter
When: spring, summer, fall
Nutritional Value: selenium, potassium, magnesium, vitamin D, and vitamin B6
Dangers: All wild mushrooms must be cooked before eating
COLLECTING MUSHROOM REQUIRES 100% CERTAINTY. WWW.FORAGINGTEXAS.COM ACCEPTS NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR IDENTIFICATION ERRORS BY ANY READERS.
Growth Form: Coprinus comatus typically grows in groups, but can also be found as solitary specimens.
Cap Shape and Size: The cap is cylindrical when young, becoming an elongated bell-shaped with age, measuring 2 to 6 inches tall and 1 to 2 inches in diameter. It is white with shaggy scales.
Gills or Pores: The gills are closely spaced, free from the stem, and initially white, turning pink and then black as they mature.
Stipe Characteristics: The stem is 2 to 6 inches long and 0.4 to 0.8 inches thick, white, and hollow. It lacks a ring.
Odor: This mushroom has a mild, pleasant odor.
Bruising: The cap and gills liquefy and turn black with age or when bruised.
Spore Color: The spore print is black.
Substrate and Habitat: It is found on lawns, gardens, and occasionally in woods, particularly on disturbed grounds rich in organic material.
Other Characteristics: Notable for its rapid maturation and deliquescence (self-digestion), with the cap liquefying from the bottom up soon after being picked or when mature.
Shaggy manes at the perfect time to harvest.
Shaggy mane aka ink cap mushrooms are considered to be an excellent "beginner" fungi for those who are just learning to hunt mushrooms. No other mushroom has a similar elongated, blunt-tipped scaly cap so identification is relatively easy. If still unsure, pick it and watch it turn into a black, inky goo over the next 4-8 hours. Once it starts "melting" aka deliquescing you can no longer eat it, but at least you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you were right. Also, they tend to reappear in the same locations time and again, so check the spot after heavy spring, summer, and fall thunderstorms, but with a preference for cold weather.
These mushrooms grow out of the ground rather than on dead wood or cow poop. They like both traditional lawns that haven't been sprayed with poisons, as well as among the fallen leaves of hardwood forests. They have a short window of growth, with three days being the outer limit. As mentioned above, seeking them the day after heavy thunderstorms is your best bet.
Harvesting triggers this melting, so be ready to cook them soon after picking. They can be used in all the traditional mushroom recipes but as with all wild mushrooms, they must be cooked to help break down their chitin, making it more digestible. Uncooked chitin causes stomach issues in many people. My personal favorite way to use them is in red sauces over pasta.
Non-Edible Mimic: Scaly Ink Cap (Coprinopsis variegata) are not considered to be poisonous, but supposedly they taste really bad, unlike shaggy manes. They have shorter, more pointed/bullet-shape caps and these caps roll upwards and become flattish in shape as they deliquesce. They also prefer hotter much weather than shaggy manes.
Cluster of Scaly Ink Cap (Coprinopsis Variegata). Note how the caps roll upwards and flatten out as they "melt".
Scaly Ink Cap (Coprinopsis variegata) underside, during deliquescing.
Scaly Ink Cap (Coprinopsis variegata) top view, during deliquescing.
Structural Features of Scaly Ink Caps:
Growth Form: Grows in scattered groups or clusters. Fruiting bodies are short-lived and deliquesce with age.
Cap Shape and Size: Cap is bell-shaped, rather pointed at the top, turning convex as they mature, measuring 1 to 2 inches across. Surface is covered with brownish scales or patches on a whitish to yellowish background, becoming inky and dissolving from the margin inward.
Gills or Pores: Gills are free from the stipe and closely spaced. They are true gills, beginning white, then turning gray and finally black before dissolving into an inky liquid.
Stipe Characteristics: Stipe is slender, hollow, and fragile, measuring 2 to 4 inches long and up to 0.25 inches thick. It is whitish and often slightly enlarged at the base, lacking a ring.
Odor: Has a mild to slightly unpleasant odor.
Bruising: No notable bruising reaction observed.
Spore Color: Spore print is black.
Substrate and Habitat: Grows on decaying hardwood logs and buried wood in moist deciduous forests. Often appears after rain from spring through fall.
Other Characteristics: Undergoes autodigestion (deliquescence), in which the gills and cap dissolve into a black inky fluid as the mushroom matures.
