Shaggy Inkcap - Tumblr Posts
It’s been a while since I used my dip pen, I’m always afraid I’ll forget how to use it! I’m happy with how this turned out though. This is the Shaggy Ink-Cap, an edible mushroom native the UK (pick the baby ones if you want to eat them though). They sometimes dye your food black, and you can make ink out of them if you want to. We used to have a patch of these in our driveway but there were never enough to eat, which is a shame because they’re delicious.
I drew some shroomsonas for MayShroom! These are a shaggy inkcap and a bleeding tooth, both found in the UK. If I had to pick one I think I’m more of an inkcap, but the bleeding tooth is great fun to draw.
I wanted to do the whole challenge at first, but I didn’t have the energy. I feel bad because Sam Guay deliberately tried to make it easier by giving 4 weekly prompts instead of 31 mushrooms, but I actually found the prompts much harder than doodling up 31 quick botanical illustrations or a mushroom fairies or something. Oh well, next year!
Shaggy Inkcap - Coprinus comatus
These mushrooms are most commonly seen in grassland and other open habitats, it is also saprobic.¹ It is easy to recognize by its shaggy cap, when younger cylindrical and later on conical.
The shaggy inkcap's gills are free from the stem and release black spores.² Around the stipe it has got a ring (or as I call it: a skirt).
The pictures were taken sometime last fall, so like November 2023.
This is a spore print that I made. It can be a bit messy because the ink gets on your hands. However, it dries up like mud and you can just wipe it up, at least in my experience.
Sources used in the top paragraph (these might also be useful for if you wish to do your own research):
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Hihi!! You like mycology right?
What's your favorite Fungi (mushroom or otherwise)? Do you have a favorite fact about them? I'd love to hear about mycology it sounds cool!!!
Hii!! Yea, I really like mycology! It's tough to pick a favorite fungi, because they're all very interesting and also beautiful.
I must say I really like shaggy inkcaps (coprinus comatus), because in the autumn they're all over the place (at least where I live). It's like they're taking over the world, which is awesome. Shaggy inkcaps I like because they're so familiar to me.
Another fungus I like is Devil's tooth or Hydnellum pecki, it's just so fascinating to me! It's so interesting to me that the fruiting bodies of this fungus can 'melt' or 'morph' together. Also the red fluid it leaks, I'm very interested in knowing what the exact chemical compounds in that fluid are and how they might react with or to other substances. I would have to do more research.
Ultimately, I don't know if I really have a favourite fungi, but the shaggy inkcap and devil's tooth certainly have a way of keeping my interest. I'm also not sure whether I have a favourite fact about them either. What is interesting, however, is that once shaggy ink caps start leaking 'ink' you can use that to make spore prints and even use it as, well, ink.
Mycology is a great topic to study. There are so many species, that differ so much from another. It's fascinating. I'll drop some links below to a few websites that you might be able to find some interesting information on. I hope this answers your questions. If you have anymore questions, I'll be happy to answer them:)
The image of the Devil's tooth fungus is from this website:
Websites with information:
There are many more websites, but these two just offer information on a great variety of fungi.
It's that time of the season again . . . . .
Coprinus comatus a.k.a the shaggy ink cap has returned!
Where I live they're in nearly every grassy meadow! It's awesome! A great start to October:)
I wanted to take pictures of the ink caps today and I kid you not . . . they mowed the grass and took the mushrooms with it! WHY!?!?!?!?
It's that time of the season again . . . . .
Coprinus comatus a.k.a the shaggy ink cap has returned!
Where I live they're in nearly every grassy meadow! It's awesome! A great start to October:)