Gills: free at first, white then pink and finally black, becoming gradually dissolved into a black fluid from the base of the cap upwards. Flesh: white, thin, except immediately in the central area of the cap. Spore-print: blackish-purple. Spores: long, elongate-ellipsoid, large and about 13 × 5-8 µm in size, (12-15 × 7-9 µm). Marginal cystidia: elongate club-shaped to balloon-shaped, hyaline and thin-walled. Facial cystidia: absent. _Habitat_ & _Distribution_: Grows in clusters on rich ground, in gardens, on sides of newly prepared roads and central reservations of motor-ways, on path-sides, in cultivated fields and on rubbish dumps; it grows from spring to autumn and sometimes occurs in huge troops. _General Information_: Easily recognised by its size, the shape of the cap with its scaly surface and from its resemblance to a ‘judge’s wig’; it is frequently called the ‘lawyer’s wig’ and whereas some common names are not very descriptive and one has to use a lot of imagination to conjure up what the common name implies, in this case it is not so. It is also known as the ‘shaggy cap’ or ‘shaggy ink-cap’. Ink or inky cap is, however, a common name for many species of the genus _Coprinus_ (see p. 211-4). The unrelated _Lyophyllum decastes_ (Fries) Singer and _L. connatum_ (Fries) Singer are also common fungi growing on roadsides, on soil and compost-heaps. They too break through embankments, soil, paths, etc., producing large craters and mounds of debris. _Illustrations_: _Coprinus comatus_--F 34^{b}; Hvass 172; LH 137; NB 35⁵; WD 82². _Lyophyllum decastes_--LH 81; WD 14². ~Lacrymaria velutina~ (Fries) Konrad & Maublanc Weeping widow _Cap_: width 45-90 mm. _Stem_: width 8-14 mm; length 50-125 mm. _Description_: Plate 41. Cap: convex then expanded with obtuse central umbo, dull clay-brown or date-brown and at first covered with flattened, woolly fibrils which are gradually lost with age; the margin is incurved and fringed with remnants of the veil. Stem: fragile, pale dingy-coloured or clay-coloured at apex, dull brown below the ring-zone which consists of white fibrils; later in development these fibrils catch the spores and the stem becomes black and fibrillose-scaly, particularly below the ring-zone. [Illustration: Plate 41. Fleshy fungi: Spores blackish and borne on gills] Gills: sinuate, crowded and very dark brown or almost black with distinct white margin which is covered in tiny beads of liquid in moist weather. Flesh: pale buff. Spore-print: almost black. Spores: long, dark brown, lemon-shaped and warted with distinct and prominent germ-pore and 10-12 × 6-7 µm in size. Marginal cystidia: club-shaped or with a distinctly rounded head. Facial cystidia: absent.