Fairy inkcap or Common bonnet

Young caps are egg-shaped, up to 8 mm, then bell-shaped, 0.5 to 1.5 cm across, occasionally 2 cm, opening only a little. They start cream with an ochre centre, later grey or greyish brown, the centre staying ochre.

The surface is pleated from the margin almost to the centre, and young caps are finely hairy and granular under a hand lens. The cap is very fragile.

The cap is 2-6 cm across: bell-shaped or conical with a sharp central bump when young, becoming convex with age but keeping the bump. The colour is grey-brown, darkening to dark grey in wet weather and fading to beige in dry weather. The surface is smooth, with fine radial grooves running from the margin to the centre (the gills show through). The margin is thin and often splits in old mushrooms.

The gills are attached and fairly widely spaced for an inkcap, white at first, then grey and blackish. They don't dissolve into ink, though they can soften in rain.

The spore print is black to blackish brown.

The gills are whitish when young, turning pinkish with age, moderately crowded, with distinctive cross-veins between them. They're notched where they meet the stem (adnexed). Spore print white.

The stem is 1.5 to 4 cm tall, occasionally 5 to 6 cm, and 1 to 2 mm thick, white, translucent, hollow, very fragile, often curved, and finely downy when young. There's no ring or volva.

The stem is 5-12 cm tall and 0.3-0.6 cm thick, long, thin, cylindrical and fragile. It's pale greyish-white at the top, darker toward the base, with a smooth surface. The base is often wrapped in whitish, felty mycelium, a characteristic feature of the species on mossy stumps.

The flesh is very thin, almost membranous, and fragile.

The flesh is thin, watery and whitish, more fibrous in the stem, and doesn't change colour when cut. The smell is faint, slightly mealy or radish-like in some populations. The taste is mild, with a light mealy note.

The smell and taste aren't distinctive.

Faint; some populations smell of flour (like fresh bread) or radish. It's not distinctive enough for a confident ID.