I observe and photograph wild mushrooms, and I've studied the biology of fungi, but I've never collected wild mushrooms for food. Enzymes called chitinases break down the chitin providing strength to the cell walls in the gills and cap, which destroys the cells in these areas. It begins to digest itself in as little as twenty-four hours after its first appearance. The mushroom doesn't open to form the typical umbrella shape of grocery store mushrooms until it begins autodigestion, turning black as it does so. A ring of tissue called an annulus surrounds the stem of the mushroom. The gills under the cap are white at first but gradually turn grey and then black. The scales make the mushroom look somewhat like a traditional lawyer's wig and give it one of its common names. The cap is covered by cream or tan scales that are upturned. It's white or cream in colour but generally has a brown tip. The young shaggy mane mushroom is elongated and roughly cylindrical in shape. These are also shaggy manes, despite the fact that they look so different from the mushroom when it first emerges from the ground. Researchers have discovered that Coprinus comatus is nematophagous. Nematophagous fungi immobilize, kill, and digest tiny worms called nematodes that live in the soil.

Some fungi are more active than others in their effort to get food. Instead, they secrete digestive enzymes into their food source and then absorb the products of the digestion. Unlike plants, fungi don't contain chlorophyll and can't produce their food by photosynthesis. The mycelium produces aerial mushrooms to distribute the reproductive spores made by the organism. The substrate is the soil or other material that supports the growth of a fungus. The branching hyphae form a mass known as a mycelium that is usually hidden in the substrate of the mushroom. Linda Crampton The Mycelium of the Shaggy Mane FungusĪs in all fungi that produce mushrooms, the body of the shaggy mane fungus consists of thread-like structures called hyphae.

The caps are opening up as digestion proceeds from the edge of the cap. The mushrooms are at different stages of autodigestion.

Shaggy use me