Ink Caps--Coprinus, Coprinopsis, and Coprinellus
They don't just grow in shit, I promise (in fact I don't think I've ever seen them growing in shit...). Photos are all mine, all unedited. The reason the ones of Coprinellus micacea look so much better is because of the lighting that time of day and also because I used my digital SLR camera. All the rest were taken with my old Moto G phone camera.
Coprinellus disseminatus, the fairy ink cap. They're edible but you'd need a lot of them because they're very small. Luckily they tend to be numerous! Good in soup or pasta sauce. They crumble really easily, so you want them in a paper bag you can easily shake them out of into a pan.
Coprinellus micaceus, the glistening ink cap. Also edible, and bigger than their aptly named cousins, but get 'em quickly and cook them because they will autodigest quickly and leave an inky mess. Good on pizza or in pasta sauce.
Coprinopsis atramentaria, the common ink cap. Edible as well and bigger than Coprinellus, but again you want to collect and cook those quickly. Good in pasta sauce. And the young ones specifically are really really good with mac and cheese, especially if you put fresh chives or green onions on top afterward.
Coprinopsis variegata, the scaly ink cap. The young ones look an awful lot like puffballs. The older ones look like shaggy manes to the untrained eye. The scales will fall off with handling. These also are edible. Excellent in a creamy soup.
Coprinus comatus, the shaggy mane. Choice edible, but again, grab 'em quickly. Did you know my very first picture of a shaggy mane (left), I didn't even know it was a shaggy mane? Because I wasn't foraging yet. Good with pizza, in mushroom gravy, pasta sauce, or wherever else you'd want to use mushroooms. :)
Word of caution: ALL edible wild mushrooms need to be cooked. Even those that won't make you sick immediately can have longterm effects. Cook them and cook them well. You pretty much have to try to overcook a mushroom. So cook them properly.
A secondary word of caution: all edible ink caps with the exception of the shaggy mane don't react well with alcohol. The recommendation is that you don't consume ink caps within three days of having consumed alcohol, one way or the other. That being said, it does vary between individuals. I've been fine with no more than a few hours between a single drink and a meal with them in it.
Word of ethics: always leave at a third of the young mushrooms you find, and only in a large flush. If there's only one, leave it be.
And not so much caution, but for convenience: collect quickly and cook quickly. Some do it faster than others, but if you have mature specimens, they will autodigest into ink. Some people have used them as ink, if that's what you're after, go for it, but if you mean to actually eat them, you need to apply heat, as that disrupts that process. Another fun thing, though! If you get mature specimens that have only just begin to autodigest, you can cook them into a black sauce and even mix with flour to make black pasta!
