Shaggy Ink Caps, Coprinus comatus, are mushrooms in a rush.
If you see one of these tall, white, club-shaped fungal fruiting bodies, then be sure to check back on it over the next few hours. It won’t hang about. That shaggy white chunky body starts deliquescing — liquefying — within 24 hours. Its gills go from white to pink to inky black, the cap starts to open up, and then it dissolves from the bottom up until there is barely anything left on the long white stem.
If you’ve picked one of these very common fungi and left them lying around, the ink they produce as they liquify will stain the surface black.
It is a good ink, even used in years gone by for important legal documents because the presence of the spores meant the writing was genuine and not a forgery. These mushrooms are apparently delicious to eat, too. But there’s something quite fun about leaving them to it when they pop up on a nearby grassy area, and just keeping an eye on them as they quickly disappear.
They’re easy to find as they’ll happily grow on lawns, playing fields, wooded areas and road verges. You might find a small troop of them waiting for the bus one morning - and then return home to their inky remains that evening.
They have other inky relatives: the Hare’s Foot Ink Cap, Coprinopsis lagopus, goes from dull grey cylinder to a beautiful filigree umbrella as it deliquesces. The Magpie Inkcap, Coprinopsis picacea, is dark brown with white scales.
Coprinus comatus is also known as Lawyer’s Wig because of the white, shaggy surface of its mushrooms. Other species have names that point to their dangers: the Deceiving Knight, Destroying Angel and Deathcap. Some, including Spindle Toughshank, sound more at home in a Dickens tale. How wonderful our language is that we are able to match the truly weird kingdom of fungi with correspondingly odd names.
Isabel Hardman is assistant editor of the Spectator and author of The Natural Health Service.
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