Shaggy Mane (Coprinus comatus)

This is a common and widespread mushroom easily recognized by it’s shape and it’s shaggy, dissolving cap. It is one of the “Foolproof Four”, the four most easily identified mushrooms. It is found either singly or in clusters, lines, or rings. It obtains its nutrients from decaying organic matter. It usually appears in the summer and fall, but may also appear in the spring.
The cap when young is whitish with a brownish center, smooth, and dry. It is oval to cylinder-shaped, covering most of the stalk. As it matures it becomes bell-shaped with spreading and uplifted margins and large, shaggy scales. As it ages the margins dissolve progressively upward into black ink at that drips to the ground. The entire cap dissolves in a little as 24 hours.
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