Pleated Inkcap Mushrooms

The last few days have been mostly cloudy and damp with a little rain, and the nights have been damp and warm. Each morning we have had nice stands of Pleated Inkcap Mushrooms (Parasola auricoma, Parasola leiocephala, or Parasola plicatilis) in the mulch in one of our morning shaded flower beds. They wither and disappear once the morning sun reaches them.

These are one of many short-lived fungi that appear overnight following rain; they develop, expand, shed their spores and then decay during the next morning, leaving little evidence they ever existed. It is considered inedible, and its small size and thin flesh mean that there is little temptation to try eating this insubstantial mushroom.

Update – June 20, 2019: Yesterday evening I took a photo of some newly-emerging mushroom buttons with the intention of taking a follow-up photo this morning. It was interesting to see that two groups of small buttons became totally different appearing mushrooms this morning. Also, this morning there was another individual mushroom that was distinctly yellow. These three photos have been added to the Additional Images gallery.

Update – July 9, 2019: Sunday was hot and damp and Sunday night was very warm. When we looked outside Monday morning we had the largest stand of mushrooms we have ever seen in our flower bed. I have added another image to the Additional Images gallery.

Additional Information

First Nature: Pleated Inkcap Mushrooms (Parasola auricoma)

First Nature: Pleated Inkcap Mushrooms (Parasola leiocephala)

First Nature: Pleated Inkcap Mushrooms (Parasola plicatilis)

Additional Images

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Technical Information

Pleated Inkcap Mushrooms 4

• Date: 7/7/2019
• Time: 9:23 AM
• Camera: Canon EOS  77D
• Lens: Canon EF-S 17-55 mm f/5.8 IS USM
• Settings:
  • Lens: 31 mm, f/11
  • ISO: 200
  • Shutter: 1/60 sec
• Cropped image is 5343 x 3562 px