Coprinellus micaceus

glistening inky cap

Scientific identification: Coprinellus micaceus (Bull.) Vilgalys, Hopple & Jacq.Johnson
Family: Psathyrellaceae
Class: Agaricomycetes
Genus: Coprinellus

Names across languages

English: glistening inky cap
German: Gemeiner Glimmertintling
Finnish: Kiillemustesieni
Estonian: Sätendav tindik
Russian: Навозник мерцающий

The scientific profile

From the latest record: 2025-06-21.

Hymenium

Gills, crowded, initially white, turning black then deliquescing as spores mature

Cap

Starts bell-shaped, expanding to flat, ochre‑brown to gray‑brown, hygrophanous, covered in shiny, mica-like veil granules when young

Hymenium Attachment

Adnexed to nearly free

Stipe

Slender, hollow, white to pale tan, smooth to finely pruinose, with potential basal veil remnants

Spore print

Spore print very dark brown to black

Ecology

Ecology saprobic, clustering on decaying wood and stumps (buried or exposed), in spring through autumn

Edibility

Edible when young but delicate, not recommended with alcohol (coprine)

Fruit body

Fruit body small to medium, stipe 3–10 cm long, 2–6 mm thick

Dimensions

Cap 2–6 cm in diameter

Odour

Faint or indistinct

Taste

Typically mild, indistinct

Microscopy

Ellipsoid to mitriform, smooth, 7–10 × 4.5–6 µm, with central germ pore, basidia 10–15 × 4–7 µm, 4-spored

Overview

Common inkcap with mica‑sparkling cap, dark gills, and delicate hollow stem, becomes inky after spore release, grows in clusters on decaying wood year-round

2001). In Redhead, Vilgalys, Moncalvo, Johnson & Hopple, Taxon 50(1): 234.