Common inkcap

How to recognise it: common inkcap

1. 1

   Grey, smooth, grooved cap (without raised scales)

2. 2

   Clusters by stumps and buried wood

3. 3

   Gills turn black and dissolve

4. 4

   With alcohol – poisoning

Description

Cap

3–7(10) cm, egg-shaped, then bell-shaped; ash-grey to grey-brown, radially grooved, smooth, only at the top with fine brownish scales; with age dissolves from the margin.

Gills

Gills broad, crowded, white, then pink, finally black and dissolving. Spore print black.

Stem

5–15 cm, white, smooth, hollow, breaks easily; instead of a ring a faint ring-like ridge in the lower part, base narrowed.

Flesh

White, thin and brittle; turns black with age.

Smell and taste

Smell and taste insignificant.

Where and when it grows

Gardens, parks, meadows, forests, wasteland, fields – in places rich in organic debris, usually gregarious in clusters at the base of trunks, on roots or on buried decaying wood.

Where are conditions good today?

Look-alikes: what it can be mistaken for

• 

  Shaggy inkcap Edible low risk

  The shaggy inkcap is white, tall, covered with raised scales and has a movable ring; it does not react with alcohol. A grey, smooth cap = common inkcap.

In the kitchen

Only young fruit bodies with white gills, cooked straight away (frying, soup). Absolutely no alcohol for several days before and after the meal.

Watch out for toxins

Coprine – coprine (Antabuse-like, alcohol intolerance) syndrome: blocks the breakdown of acetaldehyde. Symptoms from a few minutes to approx. 1 h after drinking alcohol: flushing of the face and neck, feeling of heat, palpitations, rapid pulse, nausea. The risk persists for several days after the meal.

Protection and sale

• Species protection: the species is not protected.
• Sale: the species is not on the list of mushrooms approved for sale.

Where you may pick mushrooms →