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Upcoming Events | Meet the Instructors | Plant Archive | Mushroom Archive
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The Scaly Ink cap (Coprinopsis variegata) is a decomposer with questionable edibility.
![](https://eattheplanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/451452595_18000290813638262_6300748725345644662_n.jpg)
The scaly ink cap can be found growing on decaying hardwoods in eastern North America. It fruits summer-fall.
![](https://eattheplanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/451714274_18000290822638262_6608300241326459_n.jpg)
The cap is covered by a felty, whitish veil when young. The veil soon breaks into large, felty patches revealing a brownish yellow surface underneath.
![](https://eattheplanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/451873946_18000290831638262_2631652365998898840_n.jpg)
Gills are white at first, becoming gray, and then eventually turning into a blackish ink. Spore print is black.
![](https://eattheplanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/451452597_18000290792638262_6600559490928897979_n.jpg)
Scaly ink caps are non-poisonous, but edibility is debated. Some consider the mushroom the tastiest of the ink caps. Others describe the mushroom as “bitter”. The mushroom contains a chemical called coprine which causes a poisonous reaction when consumed with alcohol. If consumed, alcohol should be avoided a few days before and after.
![](https://eattheplanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/451629681_18000290804638262_4732622625496548931_n.jpg)
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Written by Amy Demers, founder of the Connecticut Foraging Club. To learn more about foraging in Connecticut, check out our upcoming classes.