Coprinellus disseminatus

Fairy Inkcap

Scientific identification: Coprinellus disseminatus (Pers.) J.E. Lange
Family: Psathyrellaceae
Class: Agaricomycetes
Genus: Coprinellus

Names across languages

English: Fairy Inkcap
German: Gesäter Tintling
Finnish: parvimustesieni
Estonian: seltsiv tindik
Russian: Навозник рассеянный

The scientific profile

From the latest record: 2026-08-28.

Hymenium

Gills close to moderately spaced; white when young, becoming grey then blackish with maturity

Cap

Ovoid when young, later bell-shaped to broadly convex; whitish to pale grey when young, becoming grey-brown with a darker brown centre; deeply radially grooved almost to the centre; finely granular or hairy when young

Hymenium Attachment

Adnate to nearly free

Stipe

Very slender, cylindrical, hollow, smooth, white and extremely fragile; often slightly curved; ring absent

Spore print

Spore print black to blackish-brown

Ecology

Saprobic on decaying wood, especially stumps, buried roots and woody debris; typically in dense troops of dozens to hundreds; spring to late autumn

Edibility

Edible but insubstantial

Fruit body

Fruit body very small; stipe ~1.5–4 cm long and ~0.1–0.2 cm thick

Dimensions

Cap ∅ ~0.5–2 cm

Flesh

Whitish, extremely thin and fragile, do not deliquesce into black ink

Microscopy

Spores ellipsoid, smooth, ~6.5–10 × 4–6 µm, with a central germ pore; basidia 4-spored, surrounded by brachybasidia; cheilocystidia cylindrical; pleurocystidia absent; pileocystidia lageniform to subcapitate; clamp connections absent