Ink cap mushrooms

in DClub3 years ago

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“Ink cap mushrooms” are some of the coolest fungi I did not even know existed until a few days ago, when I spotted these (coprinus comatus - shaggy ink cap, I think) mushrooms in the yard and garden.

Turns out they’re actually pretty common but to me they seem like something from a fairytale. They emerge for just a few hours before the cap releases its spores by flattening out and liquifying, essentially digesting itself and producing a spore-laden pigmented black ink that can be used (& was used in the past) for writing.

Stay weird, Mother Nature.