Coprinopsis atramentaria Common Inkcap

A common, widespread Inkcap which grows in clumped groups on woody debris, logs or buried wood on woodland tracks and often in urban areas. Caps are grey-brown, broadly conical, often quite stout and deliquesce and blacken with age. Consumption  with alcohol leads to very umpleasant symptoms. Alcohol is removed from the bloodstream after it is converted to acetaldehyde, which is then converted to harmless acetate. Common Inkcap fruiting bodies contain a substance called coprine (cyclopropylglutamine) which is converted to aminocyclopropanol in the bloodstream which in turn inhibits the conversion of acetaldehyde to acetate. Consequently if consumed with alcohol, acetaldehyde accumulates in the bloodstream which leads to a feeling of nausea that can be extreme. This mechanism of action is identical to that of disulfiram, a drug used in the treatment of chronic alcoholism and is known as the Antabuse syndrome.