Shaggy Inkcap
Coprinus comatus · Agaricaceae
Also called Lawyers Wig
A shaggy white column that dissolves itself into black ink within a day of opening.
Edible. Only eat while the gills are pure white. Cook within hours of picking or it turns to ink in the basket.
Read the full foraging safety guidance.
Season
May to November
Where it grows
- Grassland
- Verges
- Lawns
- Disturbed ground
Identification
- Cap
- 5-15cm tall, cylindrical, white with shaggy upturned scales, later blackening and liquefying from the edge.
- Gills / pores
- Crowded, white, turning pink then black and dripping ink.
- Stem
- White, hollow, with a loose movable ring.
- Flesh
- White, thin, delicate.
- Spore print
- Black.
- Smell & taste
- Mild and pleasant.
Lookalikes
Common Inkcap is grey and smooth-capped and reacts badly with alcohol.
In the kitchen
Cook straight away. Gentle and delicate: a light butter fry or a cream soup.
Also edible
Penny Bun
Boletus edulis
The most sought-after wild mushroom in Britain: nutty, firm and richly scented, with a pale bun-like cap and a fat netted stem.
Chanterelle
Cantharellus cibarius
Egg-yolk yellow, trumpet-shaped and smelling faintly of apricots. One of the safest and finest edibles once learned.
Field Mushroom
Agaricus campestris
The classic mushroom of unimproved pasture: white cap, pink gills darkening to brown, and a clean mushroomy smell.