How to identify Magpie Inkcap

To correctly identify Magpie Inkcap (Coprinopsis picacea), check each of these features in order. Misidentification is the most common cause of mushroom poisoning, so cross-reference multiple sources.

Step-by-step identification

1. 1

   Cap

   Shape, color, surface texture, and diameter.

   The cap is typically 3-8 cm in diameter and 5-12 cm tall when young, becoming broadly conical to campanulate. Its color is dark blackish-brown to sepia, covered with conspicuous, persistent, white to off-white, woolly or shaggy scales, especially when young. The margin often splits and curls upwards as it deliquesces.

2. 2

   Gills

   Attachment to stem, color, and spacing.

   The gills are free, crowded, and initially white, turning pinkish-grey, then black, and finally deliquescing into a black, inky liquid from the margin inwards.

3. 3

   Stem

   Length, shape, surface, and any ring.

   The stem is 10-20 cm long and 0.5-1.5 cm in diameter, slender, hollow, and brittle. It is white to off-white, often with fine, silky fibrils, and may have a slightly swollen base. There is no ring, though a faint, evanescent ring zone may sometimes be present from the partial veil remnants.

4. 4

   Flesh

   Color, texture, and bruising reaction.

   The flesh is thin, whitish, and fragile. It has no distinctive taste but often has a somewhat unpleasant, radish-like or slightly fetid odor.

5. 5

   Fruiting body

   Overall growth pattern.

   The fruiting body is initially ovoid to cylindrical, expanding to campanulate (bell-shaped) as it matures, eventually deliquescing.

6. 6

   Habitat

   Where it grows and on what substrate.

   Saprobic, growing solitarily or in small groups on rich, often disturbed, soil or directly on decaying buried wood (hardwood, rarely conifer) in deciduous or mixed woodlands. It prefers calcareous soils.

Key Facts

Cap surfaces

Dark blackish-brown with prominent white, woolly scales.

Growth Form

Solitary or scattered.

Spore Print

Black.

Body color

Cap: blackish-brown with white scales; Stem: white.

Odor

Unpleasant, radish-like.

Flesh bruises

Does not bruise significantly.

Height

10-20 cm

Cap Diameter

3-8 cm

Fruit body characteristics

• Gill attachment: Free
• Stem shape: Cylindrical, often slightly tapering upwards, sometimes with a slightly swollen base.
• Stem surface: White, finely silky-fibrillose.
• Ring: Absent (partial veil evanescent, leaving no persistent ring).
• Stem cross-section: Hollow

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