Stats

Lifespan

A few days

Size

Large

Diet

Decomposer

Biome

Temperate grassland

Range

Northern Hemisphere

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Spores

Defense

Camouflage

Status

Common

About

The Shaggy Mane is a distinctive white mushroom covered in shaggy, upturned scales. As it matures, it auto-digests its own cap and gills into a dripping black ink — a process called deliquescence used to spread spores.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   spore

   A microscopic spore drifts on air or water and germinates where moisture and substrate meet.
2. 2.
   mycelium

   A thread-like mycelium spreads through the substrate, breaking it down into nutrients.
3. 3.
   fruiting body

   A mature fruiting body emerges to release the next generation of spores.

Learn more

• View on iNaturalist →
• Watch on YouTube →

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Fungi

Phylum

Basidiomycota

Class

Agaricomycetes

Order

Agaricales

Family

Coprinaceae

Genus

Coprinus

Species

Coprinus comatus