Shaggy ink cap or Common ink cap

The cap is at first elongated and egg-shaped, 5-15 cm tall and 3-5 cm wide. With age it opens into a bell shape, then spreads out. Color white, with a cream or yellowish center, covered in distinctive upturned scales — soft and fluffy. In old fruit bodies the gill edges turn pink, then black. In the end the mushroom dissolves into a black liquid (autodigestion).

The cap is at first egg-shaped or bell-shaped, 4-8 cm tall and 3-7 cm wide. It opens up with age. Color gray, gray-brown, sometimes with an olive tinge, darker in the center. The surface has distinctive radial ribs and grooves and small scales in the center. In old specimens it blackens and dissolves.

Gilled hymenophore. Gills very crowded, thin, free (not touching the stem). The color changes with age: young ones are white, then turning pink, then black as the spores mature. Spore print black.

Gilled hymenophore. Gills very crowded, thin, free. Color: young ones are white, then turning gray, pinkish, then black and autodigesting. Spore print black.

Stem 8-20 cm tall, 0.5-2 cm thick, cylindrical, slender, white, hollow inside. It has a movable ring in the middle or lower part — a characteristic feature. Surface smooth or finely downy.

Stem 8-15 cm tall, 0.5-1.5 cm thick, cylindrical, white, smooth, hollow inside. There is no distinct ring — there may be a thin ring-like thickening near the base. Surface smooth or with barely noticeable down.

The flesh is white, soft and tender in young specimens. In old ones it quickly blackens and dissolves (autodigestion). When a young one is cut, the color doesn't change.

The flesh in the cap is thin, white to grayish. In old specimens it quickly blackens and autodigests. When a young one is cut, the color barely changes.

Faint, pleasant mushroomy smell. The taste is tender and delicate — young specimens are reminiscent of a soft omelet.

Faint, pleasant mushroomy smell. Mild taste with nothing special about it.