Fairy Inkcap or Trooping Crumble Cap

Coprinellus disseminatus

Coprinellus disseminatus (Fairy Inkcap) is a fragile and often prolific wood decomposer that may fruit in dense clumps at the bases of decaying stumps, at the tips of buried wood and fallen branches. The fruitbodies tend not to deliquesce (turn to black ink) like most other inkcaps, but to dry up and fade, perhaps because of their adaptation to mass fruiting over broad expanses of substrate. The small, grey to pale beige caps are finely grooved. The translucent whitish stipes often give the clumps of fairy inkcaps a glistening, ghostly appearance after rain [1][2].

Ecologically, C. disseminatus is a wood decomposer and humus former that plays an important role in the turnover of nutrients. Mass colonization of coarse woody debris hastens its conversion into humus and brings readily available nutrients to the soil. The more advanced decay of substrates that support troop-forming flushes of fairy inkcaps supports a community of both fungi and microbes that are actively engaged in wood decomposition [2][3].

Fruiting in large troops on persistently moist decaying wood, a big flush of C. disseminatus is often seen by naturalists as an in-the-field indicator of a large concentration of buried woody debris and persistent surface moisture in that area, a signal of the decomposition work that's going on [1][2][5].

[1] Kuo, Michael. “Coprinellus disseminatus.” MushroomExpert.com. https://www.mushroomexpert.com/coprinellus_disseminatus.html

[2] First Nature. “Coprinellus disseminatus (Pers.) J. E. Lange – Fairy Inkcap.” First Nature – Fungi of Northern Europe and North America. https://first-nature.com/fungi/coprinellus-disseminatus.php

[3] MykoWeb. “Coprinellus disseminatus (CAF Species Page).” MykoWeb – California Fungi. https://www.mykoweb.com/CAF/species/Coprinellus_disseminatus.html

[4] Roehl, Thomas. “#214: Coprinellus disseminatus – Fungus Fact Friday.” FungusFactFriday.com, June 8, 2018 (updated June 15, 2018). https://www.fungusfactfriday.com/214-coprinellus-disseminatus/

[5] EnglishFungi.org. “Coprinellus disseminatus.” English Fungi Species Pages. https://www.englishfungi.org/Species/Coprinellus%20disseminatus