Pleated Inkcap Mushroom

So many people love to eat mushrooms but, as you probably know, most mushrooms are not the eating variety. This is one such fella.  Not poisonous but not something to be put in your soup or sandwich.

Often people think mushrooms are harmful to their yards or plants.  What mushrooms really do is break down dead material and make it into something plants can use to grow.  I barely got to see this guy since it lasts less than 24 hours before disappearing itself.  With all the rain I have also gotten some other mushrooms growing in various pots on the patio.  The more mulch the more likely it is to get mushrooms since mulch is pretty much the opposite of broken down material.  Last year's mulch is this year's dirt.  The slugs seem to really like some of the mushrooms that have been growing I've removed several of them and tossed them far into the yard, hopefully to forage somewhere else.

Something I didn't know was that some mushrooms in the same group as this little guy can be used to gather ink.  As the name inkcap implies, some of the larger mushrooms actually drip a black fluid containing spores that can be used as ink. They drip so that the wind can catch the spores and take them away.  As they do so the edges curl away and up to promote the drip and release of the spores.

Public Service Announcement: Never eat a mushroom unless you KNOW that it is edible.  There are so many varieties out there and you are safer not guessing.

Sent from my iPhone