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Mushrooms by day - Coprinus sp.


Pictures are at the bottom...

It's Autumn, which, amongst other things, means that it's mushroom season. After the first rains, the mushrooms start sprouting up everywhere. I thought these were called Blekksveppir in Icelandic, or Ink Mushrooms, but after looking for the right link, I'm even less sure than before. Let's just say, they're a member of the Coprinus family, sometimes called Shaggy Mane in english. The ones I have photos of are _not_ Coprinus comatus, the regular Shaggy Mane as the stipe is bare, but, the other most common one, Coprinopsis atramentaria aka Tippler's bane which has a bare stipe, and is very common, doesn't seem to be what I have. *shrugs* Make sure you read about the toxicity of C. atramentaria. Totally fine, but mixing a tiny bit of alcohol gives you terrible massive hangover symptoms for a few hours. Mushroom toxicity is really scary. Some types will start destroying you from the inside, and before you even show enough symptoms to even consider medical assistance, you are no longer salvageable, and all modern medicine can do is relieve your pain.

Anyway, they're still cool. They grow in big dense forests, particularly along roadsides, and my new camera has got me all excited again. Here's some pictures of some from just outside work one lunch, but hop on over to see more mushrooms in the dark (sorry, they don't glow)