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Coprinopsis subsect. Lanatuli
Delicate, gray-white caps with white stalks. Cap margins on the older mushrooms were curling upward with age. The largest cap diameter was about 3-4cm. The stems and caps were very fragile, and many of the caps appeared to have been bitten off.
They were growing on the ground in a deciduous forest.
Inky caps have gills that partially liquefy as the mushroom matures. While the "ink" produced from the liquefying gills can actually be used as writing ink, it has a much more important function from the perspective of the mushroom. Liquefying the gills is actually a very clever strategy for efficient spore dispersal. The gills liquefy from the bottom up as the spores mature. As this happens, the cap peels up and the maturing spores are thus always kept in the best position for catching the wind for dispersal.
Spotted on Nov 3, 2017
Submitted on Nov 14, 2017
4 Comments
Thanks :)
Beautiful! I love how "fuzzy" it looks!
Thank you for the nomination!
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!