Hare’s Foot Inkcap

Hare’s Foot Inkcap is a small, common, and widespread gill mushroom. It has a worldwide distribution, occurring on every continent except Greenland and Antarctica. In North America it is most common on the West coast and in the east. It obtains its nutrients from already decaying wood (saprobic). It appears singly, scattered, or in groups, sometimes dense groups, in forests and woodlands. It is occasionally found in urban areas. It grows on woody debris. It sometimes appears to be growing on the ground but only when the soil is rich in decaying wood.

When it first appears, the cap is oval, cylindrical, or acorn-shaped. The upper surface is dark gray to black, flecked with brown in the middle, and densely covered with silvery hairs. This hairy surface is a remnant of an egg-like structure (universal veil) that protected the newly emerging mushroom. As the cap ages it spreads out becoming nearly flat and the silvery covering breaks up into patches. The mature cap is ¾″ to 2⅜″ in diameter. In dry conditions, the margins split and curl up and back. In wet conditions the margins dissolve progressively inward into black ink at that drips to the ground.

The gills are pale at first, narrow, and crowded. They are more or less unattached to the stalk (free). As they mature they turn gray then black. As they release their spores they self-digest, turning into black ink at that drips to the ground.

The stalk is white, hollow, very fragile, 1½″ to 8″ long, and 1 ⁄16″ to 3 ⁄16″ thick. When young, it is densely covered with minute white hairs. These wear away as it ages but long, white, woolly hairs persist at the base.

The flesh is thin and soft. It may be edible but it is flavorless and insubstantial.

The spore print is blackish.

Forests, woodlands

Spring through fall

Sources

4, 24, 26, 29, 30, 77.

Common and widespread

Family
Hare’s Foot Inkcap was previously classified as Coprinus lagopus in the family Agaricaceae. A molecular DNA study published in 2001 showed that most of the species in the genus Coprinus were only distantly related to the type species Coprinus comatus. All but three species were moved to the new family Psathyrellaceae and assigned new genera.

Species Complex
The Coprinopsis lagopus group is a complex of closely related species that can be distinguished only by examining their spores under a microscope. All of these species decompose woody debris in forests. However, the nominate species, Coprinopsis lagopus, is the most common species within the group. Similar look-alike species decompose other substrates.

Here's a close up of a mushroom from this morning.

...a dead old tree with a hole in it and it had some mushrooms growing in there.

Coprinopsis lagopus
Cyanescentinel

Coprinopsis lagopus aka Hare'sFoot Inkcap
HCSeelig

Slugs munch coprinopsis lagopus timelapse
Cap and Stem

Diana Heineck
6/10/2024

Location: Irvine, California

Location: Silver Bay, MN

Location: Detroit Lakes, MN

...a dead old tree with a hole in it and it had some mushrooms growing in there.