Living Beings
    Source-identified Coprinopsis cinerea; Mature, opened gilled fruiting body; source identification retained. Framed for display
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    2015-05-30 Coprinopsis cinerea (Schaeff.- Fr.) Redhead, Vilgalys & Moncalvo 593470.jpg · Resized and converted to WebP for display. Mature, opened gilled fruiting body; source identification retained. This image was created by user Igor (Igor_Yevdokimov) at Mushroom Observer , a source for mycological images. You can contact this user here . · CC BY-SA 3.0

    Field guide · species

    Gray Inkcap

    Coprinopsis cinerea (Schaeff.) Redhead, Vilgalys & Moncalvo, 2001

    What does the authority mean?

    The authority credits the formal scientific description of the name. A year records publication of that description.

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    FungiAgaricomycetesAgaricalesPsathyrellaceae

    The gray inkcap is a mushroom-forming fungus widely used to study development. The same organism can follow several growth pathways, from an expanding mycelium to spores or a mature fruiting body.

    Public research profile · final editorial review pending.

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    Tree of lifeScientific lineage
    1. LifeLife
    2. DomainEukaryota
    3. KingdomFungi
    4. PhylumBasidiomycota
    5. ClassAgaricomycetes
    6. OrderAgaricales
    7. FamilyPsathyrellaceae
    8. GenusCoprinopsis
    9. SpeciesCoprinopsis cinerea
    Advanced classification

    Complete source lineage, including intermediate ranks. The standard view uses Life and the eight principal ranks.

    1. cellular organisms cellular root
    2. Eukaryota domain
    3. Opisthokonta clade
    4. Fungi kingdom
    5. Dikarya subkingdom
    6. Basidiomycota phylum
    7. Agaricomycotina subphylum
    8. Agaricomycetes class
    9. Agaricomycetidae subclass
    10. Agaricales order
    11. Agaricineae suborder
    12. Psathyrellaceae family
    13. Coprinopsis genus
    14. Coprinopsis cinerea species
    Open in taxonomy explorer ↗

    Structure and identification

    A slender stem supports a gilled cap. Appearance changes strongly as the fruiting body matures; the accompanying photograph shows an opened, mature cap rather than the earlier closed form.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗

    Habitat and range

    Dung and other nutrient-rich decomposing organic material provide substrates associated with this saprotrophic fungus.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗

    Nutrition and metabolism

    Hyphae secrete enzymes and absorb nutrients from their substrate. The mushroom itself serves primarily in reproduction.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗

    Biological activity

    Growth is organized through branching hyphae. Developmental switches change the structure and function of the fungal network and its reproductive tissues.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗

    Reproduction and life cycle

    Research follows spore germination, vegetative growth, production of asexual propagules and formation of sexual fruiting bodies. Environmental conditions influence which pathway develops.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗

    Ecological role

    As a decomposer it participates in the processing of organic material; laboratory strains provide a tractable window into these fungal growth programs.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗

    Distinctive adaptations

    Different developmental outcomes allow an organism to allocate growth and reproduction differently as conditions change. Laboratory findings should be distinguished from measurements of all wild populations.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗

    Evidence

    Sources

    Connected life

    No reviewed ecological connections in the collection yet.

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