8o 



MINNESOTA MUSHROOMS 



Coprinus comatus Shaggy Mane 



Cap 5-20 cm. tall. 3-8 cm. wide, white, whitish or yellowish, darker on the 

 disk, shaggy with coarse, more or less concentric scales, cylindric or oblong at first, 

 then more or less bell-shaped, splitting at the margin; stem 10-24 cm. by 1-2 cm., 

 white or whitish, smooth, readily separating from the cap, hollow, but somewhat 

 cobwebby within, ring large and movable or incomplete ; gills free, white, turn- 

 ing to pinkish, purple, black, and iinally dissolving into a black ink, broad and 



Figure 47. Coprinus comatus 



(Form wlien fresh) 



Figure 48. Coprixus comatus 



(Form after the gills have dissolved) 



densely crowded; spores black, elliptic, 16-18 X l^/i. The name refers to the 

 shaggy cap. 



Common in lawns and grassland, in groups or clusters, from earliest spring to 

 severe frost ; it reappears year after year in the same spot. One of the very best 

 of the mushrooms. 



Coprinus fimetarius Mealy Inkcap 



Cap 2-6 cm. wide, bluish black or blackish, densely covered with white tufted 

 scales which disappear as the cap expands, finally smooth, splitting at the margin, 

 cylindric or conic, then more or less expanded at the margin; stem 5-8 cm. by 5-8 



