Shaggy ink cap
Coprinus comatus · 毛头鬼伞
Common蘑菇科🍽 Cultivated Edible
A commercially cultivated edible fungus. Buy wild specimens only through reputable, regulated sources.
The same species can be described differently across regions and stages of maturity, and countless look-alike species cannot be told apart by eye. Never use the information on this page to judge whether a real mushroom is safe to eat.
How to Tell
- Cap white and cylindrical, covered in large upturned scales
- Deliquesces into black ink starting from the margin as it matures
- Common on lawns, roadsides, and freshly disturbed ground
ID notes are compiled by AI from public sources, not reviewed by a mycologist, for learning only — never a basis for foraging.
Basics
- Family
- 蘑菇科
- Hymenium
- Gills
- Grows On
- Grassland
- How Big
- 4–10 cm (cap diameter)
- Encounter Rate
- Common
- Habitat
- Lawns, roadsides and manured ground
Easily Confused With
Common inkcapShaggy ink cap has a white, cylindrical cap with large shaggy scales; common inkcap is smooth and grey-brown.
Magpie inkcapShaggy ink cap has a white, cylindrical cap; magpie inkcap is dark brown with white patches.Fun Fact
As it matures, its gills digest themselves into dripping black ink, helping spores travel farther — pick one and it will dissolve within hours.
More in this family
- Almond mushroom
- Button mushroom
- Common puffball
- Deadly dapperling
- Field mushroom
- Flowerpot parasol
- Giant puffball
- Green-spored parasol
- Horse mushroom
- Parasol mushroom
- Shaggy parasol
- Yellow stainer