APPENDIX XI 749 



Coprinus atramenlarius. Inky Cap {Edible) (Fig. 267). 



Cap ovate, slightly expanding, silvery to dark gray or brownish, smooth, silky or 

 with small scales, especially at the center, often plicate and lobed with notched mar- 

 gin; gills broad, ventricose, crowded, free, white, soon changing to pinkish-gray, 

 then becoming black and deliquescent; stem smooth, shining, whitish, hollow, 



Fig. 268. — Edible shaggymane, Coprinus comatus. {After Patterson, Flora W., and 

 Charles, Vera K., Bull. 175, U. S. Dept. Agric, pi. xxii, Apr. 29, 1915.) 



attenuated upward, readily separating from the cap; ring near the base of stem, 

 evanescent. 



Cap 13-2 to 4 inches broad; stem 2 to 4 inches long, 4 to 6 lines thick. 



This species appears from spring to autumn, particularly after rains. It grows 

 singly or in dense clusters on rich ground, lawns, gardens, or waste places. It has 

 long been esteemed as an edible species. Coprinus atramenlarius differs from C. 

 comalus in the more or less smooth, oval cap and the imperfect, basal, evanescent 

 ring. 



