Conservation Status: Not of concern

Edibility: Coprinus comatus is one of the most popular edible mushrooms, and it occurs nearly worldwide.

Coprinus comatus is one of the most popular edible mushrooms, and it occurs nearly worldwide.

mushrooms. It is usually tall and stately, with a bullet-shaped white cap covered with whitish to brown scales that are not removable. The stipe is white, usually fairly thick, and has a movable ring in its lower portion if it has not fallen off And, of course, the caps turn to ink, from the edge upward. Shaggy manes usually occur in groups, often quite large ones, but not in clusters. They are most common in grassy areas and hard-packed soil along trails and roadsides, fruiting mostly in late summer or early fall in the PNW.

Clyde Christensen, longtime mycologist at the University of Minnesota, included Coprinus comatus as one of his “foolproof four” edible mushrooms. Although it could be argued that nothing is fully foolproof, especially when it comes to mushroom

Sources: Trudell, Steve and Joe Ammirati. Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest. Portland, Timber Press, Inc. 2009.