Coprinopsis nivea

It was first described in 1801 by the German mycologist Christiaan Hendrik Persoon who classified it as Agaricus niveus.[3]

In 1838 it was reclassified as Coprinus niveus by the Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries.[4][5]

In 2001 phylogentic analysis restructured the Coprinus genus and it was reclassified as Coprinopsis nivea by the mycologists Scott Alan Redhead, Rytas J. Vilgalys & Jean-Marc Moncalvo.[6]

Coprinopsis nivea is a small inkcap mushroom which grows in wetland environments.

Cap: 1.5–3 cm. Starts egg shaped expanding to become campanulate (bell shaped). Covered in white powdery fragments of the veil when young. Gills: Start white before turning grey and ultimately black and deliquescing (dissolving into an ink-like black substance). Crowded and adnate or free. Stem: 3–9 cm long and 4-7mm in diameter. White with a very slightly bulbous base which may present with white tufts similar to that of the cap. Spore print: Black. Spores: Flattened ellipsoid and smooth with a germ pore. 15-19 x 8.5-10.5 μm. Taste: Indistinct. Smell: Indistinct.[7][8]

The specific epithet nivea (originally niveus) is Latin for snowy or snow covered.[9] This is a reference to the powdery white appearance of this mushroom.

Grows in small trooping or tufting groups on old dung, especially that of cows[10] and horses, Summer through late Autumn. Widespread and recorded quite regularly.[7]

• Coprinopsis pseudonivea.