Common Inkcap

Coprinus atramentarius

Deciduous forests, parks, gardens, roadsides, squares. From spring to late autumn.

Fruiting bodies medium-sized, less often large. Cap up to 7 cm or even 10 cm across, bell-shaped, grey, brownish-grey, scaly, ridged, cracked. Gills black. Stem white, later grey, 7-10x1-2 cm. Flesh white, moreover with a pleasant smell and taste. Characteristic features: cap grey in colour, the margins as if frayed (crumbled). Grows several or a dozen or more fruiting bodies together in fertile soil, on rotted manure, on rotting deciduous wood. Edible when young, provided no alcoholic drinks are consumed. The active substance it contains, coprine, 1—2 hours after the meal, interacting with alcohol, causes changes in the blood; the heart rhythm and blood pressure are disturbed, nausea and vomiting occur, and a rash breaks out on the body. This substance has interested medical scientists for treating alcoholics.