11 November 2007 Hampshire. Photograph copyright Leif Goodwin. Synonymns Coprinus picaceus Common Name Magpie Ink Cap Cap Rugby ball shaped, expanding with age, becoming flattened, dark grey to brown, covered with coarse white scales, deliquescing with age, to about 6 cm across Gills Free, crowded, white, then pinkish, finally black and deliquescing Stem +/- equal, hollow, white Flesh Fragile Smell Unpleasant Taste Indistinct Season Late summer to autumn Distribution Frequent in southern England, rarer in the north Habitat In deciduous woods, usually with beech Spore Print Black Microscopic Features Spores ellipsoidal, smooth (13-17) x (10-12) µm2 Edibility Inedible 
11 November 2007 Hampshire. Photograph copyright Leif Goodwin. |