Coprinopsis lagopus (Fr.) Redhead, Vilgalys & Moncalvo, in Redhead, Vilgalys, Moncalvo, Johnson & Hopple, Taxon 50(1): 229 (2001)

Coprinopsis lagopus is a saprobic mushroom that grows solitarily or in groups. It commonly grows on wood chips, leaf litter, compost heaps, humus rich soil, vegetable wastes etc. It is widely distributed throughout the world¹.  The specimen was collected from Tungareshwar wildlife sanctuary, Maharashtra.

Morphology:

The size of the fruit body varies immensely. Arthur Henry Reginald Buller observed this variation by growing the spores on horse dung¹. Mature cap is up to 40 mm in diameter and oval, expanding to broadly convex and eventually becomes more or less flat; gray to black in color. Initially it is covered with a dense coating of silvery hairs which break up into patches at the maturity and may eventually disappear. Gills are attached to the stem; crowded; gray to blackish in color. Stem is up to 50 × 5 mm, hollow from inside and fragile, white in color, initially with dense hair however, becomes smooth at maturity². 

Culinary value:

Inedible as food; they are not poisonous but not really tasty.

Medicinal importance:

Lack of information

Industrial importance:

Lack of information

Unique features:

Lack of information

Interesting facts:

The common name of the species is Hare's foot inkcap (lagopus comes from ancient Greek words, lagos means a hare and pous meaning foot - hence also the common name). Fruit bodies go through their entire visible lifecycle within 24 hours³.

Commercial products:

Lack of information

Patents:

Lack of information

Publications:

Chemical constituents of Coprinus lagopus were identified using fruiting bodies⁴.

Classification⁵:

Related links:                                                                                                                                                     

1. http://www.first-nature.com/fungi/coprinopsis-lagopus.php
2. http://botanicalmusings.blogspot.in/2013/01/an-antabuse-fungus.html
3. http://www.mykoweb.com/CAF/species/Coprinopsis_lagopus.html
4. http://mushroomobserver.org/name/show_name/520

 References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprinopsis_lagopus

2. http://www.mushroomexpert.com/coprinopsis_lagopus.html

3. http://www.first-nature.com/fungi/coprinopsis-lagopus.php

4. Ragasa CY, Tan MCS, Castro MEGD, Perez J, Shen CC (2016) Chemical constituents of Coprinopsis lagopus. International Journal of Toxicological and Pharmacological Research, 8(6) 421-424

5.http://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/NamesRecord.asp?RecordID=319071