Also known as Fairy Ink Cap, they are quite common at this time of year, and fairly easy to spot as they always form dense mats over dead wood. These mushrooms are reportedly edible, but since the name Crumble Cap describes their tendency to disintegrate when touched, they make an unpractical forage. They belong to a group of mushrooms called Coprinus - which means ‘living on dung' - but unlike other members of their family, Trooping Crumble Caps are vegetarians that do not live on food already passed through an animal, feeding instead on rotting timber.
By River Six