Shaggy Mane Mushroom

Awesome! Thanks for the information. I will keep that in mind next time I see one of these! :-)

The ring on Coprinus comatus is normally relatively low down on the stem due to the long thin tubular shape of the mushroom before it opens. You can see it clearly on the foremost specimen in this photo, as well as many others on Google images:
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/images/zur...

It can come off quite easily with rain or disruption though so this feature can't really be used to rule out Coprinus, only confirm it. It is better to cut the mushroom in half as I suggested before to be sure. However C. comatus is usually quite distinct anyway when young and prime for eating, this specimen is just a little tricky because it is more mature and less shaggy than normal. Like I said, I could be wrong and it could be Coprinopsis instead!

People say they are a great edible. I've only eaten them once and found them a bit slimey, but I suspect I didn't cook them correctly and by the time I got them home they weren't perfectly fresh! I should have exercised Karen's practice, haha :-)

What interesting information, gully! Thanks for sharing your expertise. Where exactly would the ring around the stem appear? I found what I thought to be quite a few Coprinus comatus last year, but I did not see a ring around the stem. Thanks again for all of the information. Karen, these always do smell tasty! What do they taste like?

We joke that when you find a clump, you run home, put the pan on the stove to start melting the butter, then go cut the mushrooms and run back!

Haha, doesn't take long for them to get old does it!

Here's a picture I took of a garden absolutely covered in Shaggy Ink Caps (Shaggy Manes). If only I had my camera with me the day before, it was even more spectacular.

http://files.shroomery.org/files/12-44/1...

I had several mushrooms show up in the same general area. Shaggy Manes, shaggy parasol and an unknown but rather suspect agaric. The parasols are the only ones making any sort of return and I"m so glad to have had someone agree with my identification of them as they are really delicious

Sadly, Karen, I did not. But now I know better and eagerly await their return. ;)

So, Hope, you didn't get any other pictures you can add to this series?

Gully, I never let my shaggy manes get old! LOL - straight into the drying pan, although my first batch got old as I was very new to mushrooming and didn't want to do something foolhardy. As it turns out, I haven't had a nice batch in my own yard since(I think the guy who took some of the manure pile got the main part of the colony)

Thank you Gully.moy for sharing your expertise! I am learning so much from all this discussion.

When I took this picture I did not know to look for anything specific. Next time I see it (it usually comes up in about the same spot each year) I will look (and photograph) the stem.

Not comfortable enough in my IDing skills to eat any I find yet. Except for the Wood Ears. ;)

And by the way, both species can display striation in their deliquescent stage.

Haha, I can see the cause for debate, these are ambiguous!

Interestingly, though you believe you are agreed on Coprinus, you are in fact not! A new genus was created to house C. atramentarius on the basis of DNA evidence which showed that the two species weren't so closely related after all. In fact they're not even in the same family, which means they evolved their similarities independently, a phenomenon known as 'Convergent Evolution'. So Coprinus atramentarius is now known as Coprinopsis atramentarius.

At first I was siding with Karen, gunning for C. atramentarius on the basis of a lack of shagginess... However on closer inspection they do look more typical of C. comatus to me after all, on account of the size, growth pattern and the quality of the scales. Although I couldn't rule out a slightly more scaly Coprinopsis species, of which there are plenty. You didn't happen to notice a ring around the stem did you? That would say Coprinus. Or of course you could cut them in half next time and check for a long thread of tissue running through the mushroom's stem. This is only present in Coprinus species too.

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/images/con...

The difference would only be really important if you were to eat them with alcohol. Coprinus comatus is safe with a glass of wine, however some Coprinellus species, though safely edible normally, react very badly with alcohol. The resultant ailment is known as Tippler's bane :-)

Oh my! I'm out sick and y'all are having a great debate over my 'shroom. Sorry to have missed all the fun. :( Gonna take me a bit to catch up! Thanks for sharing your expertise with me. I really do appreciate it!!!

Beautiful mushroom!

I definitely agree, Karen! It is wonderful we can have a discussion about this! Since we both can agree on Coprinus, maybe it would be best to just leave it there. :-)

I can't say I'm convinced. I pick these all the time and eat them. We have lots of other coprinus species here too. Let's just say with mushrooms a hands on ID makes a difference. Granted there are occasional non standard individuals. I do wish we had a measurement, and a couple younger specimens as reference. Scroll down and check out the older ones shown - all have quite a bit more shag, which is the outer skin peeling as the mushroom grows beyond button stage. I have to go with my "gut" here. Not comatus. But I love that we can share all these possible ID's and discuss them!

The third image to the right, on the first row appears to have striations:
http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/D...

Checking my copy of Mushrooms demystified, I found a couple pictures(wish I could just post from the book!) showing C. atramentarius in a smooth cap form and a scaly cap form. I have never seen a C. comatus with striations, which the second pic clearly shows. I'm going to hold tight to my guess of NOT comatus. But I will say definitely coprinus.

I agree Karen, though I still think this is Coprinus comatus, as it appears Coprinus atramentarius has almost no shaggy parts at all, as in this one:
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_qu...
However, on the other hand, it seems Coprinus comatus has varying levels of shagginess depending on the stage it is at.
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_qu...

compare these two: Coprinus atramentarius http://scienceline.org/2012/10/mushroom-... which is scruffy but not shaggy and

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/coprinus_c... which is hands down shaggy!

It looks shaggy to me, if you look toward the center. It looks much like the mushroom in the Mushroom Expert link in my suggestion. What inky cap species are you thinking of? The inky cap is a group of species which includes the Coprinus genus.

I'm leaning toward inky cap - even in this stage the shaggy mane would be shaggy!

Ahhh! Thanks!

No problem! Hope you feel better soon! :-) António and I are talking about the same species, I think, just different names.

Thanks Antonio & Jakubko! I can't decide which it is. Need to pull out some books. But I am sickly and lazy today. So I will probably do that later. ;)

Thanks again!