Species: Woodland Inkcap (Coprinellus silvaticus)
Family: Gilled Mushrooms (PSATHYRELLACEAE)
Category: Fungi
Location: Widespread
A. Fungi
More extensive information on fungi can be found in a separate blog post.
B. Gilled Mushrooms (PSATHYRELLACEAE)
These are dark-spored agarics with soft, fragile fruiting bodies. The family includes the inkcaps. Many of them deliquesce, that is to say after maturity the gills and caps dissolve by autodigestion into a black inky fluid.
C. Woodland Inkcap (Coprinellus silvaticus)
This inkcap is recognised by its grooved cap, which often becomes grey. The white gills darken with age and finally turn black.
Additional Information
The Agaricomycetes Group and the Agaricales order
Agaricomycetes Information
Most of the mushroom forming fungi in the cemetery are in this group. Most in the group are terrestrial decayers, usually of wood, but some are parasitic and some symbiotic. The group also includes the largest and heaviest individual organisms on earth. The mycelium (fungal body) of one known individual Armillaria gallica extends over 150,000 square metres (37 acres), has an estimated mass of 10,000 kg (22,000 lb), and an age of 1,500 years. However, the record holder so far is an individual of the species Armillaria ostoyae (or solidipes) in Oregon’s Malheur National Forest that extends over 8.8 square kilometres (3.4 square miles, 2385 acres) and is estimated to be 2,400 years old. These individual fungi are many times heavier than a blue whale.
Agaricales Order Information
This group contains the familiar gilled mushrooms, some being edible, some poisonous, and species with a variety of other fruiting bodies. Most are saprotrophic, but some are parasitic and some mycorrhizal. The oldest known fossilised mushroom is a member of this group, 125 million years old.
Images
Woodland Inkcap
The Woodland Inkcap is recognised by its grooved cap, which often becomes grey. The white gills darken with age and finally turn black.
