|Major Groups > Gilled Mushrooms > Dark-Spored > Coprinoid
Mushrooms > Coprinus comatus| Coprinus comatus: The Shaggy Mane
by Michael Kuo Suddenly appearing in people's lawns--in troops
or lines or rings--this mushroom is well known and relatively
easily recognized. Its distinguishing features include its shape
and stature (see the illustrations), and the fact that the gills
"deliquesce," turning themselves into black ink as they mature.
Shaggy manes are frequently found in disturbed ground, and the
edges of dirt roads can produce many mushrooms. In the Rocky
Mountains, Coprinus comatus can be seen from the car during
monsoon season by simply driving four-wheel-drive roads and
keeping an eye on the roadsides. DNA studies over the last
decade make it clear that Coprinus comatus is fairly closely
related to species of Agaricus and Lepiota, but only distantly
related to most other mushrooms whose gills turn to black ink--
for example, Coprinopsis atramentaria or Coprinellus micaceus.
The genus Coprinus, which onc