BASIDIOMYCETES: Agaricales, Coprinaceae

Glistening Inky Cap, Coprinus micaceus

Basidiomycetes, order: Agaricales, family: Coprinaceae

Height to 3½"

Cap is up to 2" wide when open, round or oval to bell-shaped or convex, and striated nearly to the center. Surface is ochre or brownish, shiny when wet, and covered with small, glistening scales that are lost upon maturity. Stalk is thin, smooth, and white. Gills are grayish, becoming black and liquefying (as with most of the “inky caps”). The Glistening Inky Cap grows often in clumps on lawns and decaying wood throughout North America during the spring and fall. It is edible but insubstantial. Also known as the Mica Cap and Shiny Cap.