Inky cap. Mushroom that has close, furrowed gills which blacken and liquefy or deliquesce. Its liquid was once used as a black ink. It is a common mushroom that grows in clusters on wood stumps and buried wood from spring through fall, especially after a good rain. The bell-shaped cap is gray-brown with a few scales over the center. As the cap expands, the margin splits and liquefies so that the spores basically drop to the ground around the mushroom perimeter. This is just another way of distributing spores. This mushroom can cause a toxic reaction when alcohol is consumed within 12-24 (or more) hours. The symptoms include face-reddening, vomiting, palpitations, an tingling of the extremities within 10 to 15minutes of eating the mushrooms. The severity of the reactions is proportional to the amount of alcohol drunk and the timing of eating the mushrooms. No one is known to have died from eating inky caps with alcohol. There were several studies conducted to see if a drug containing the active ingredient - coprine - could be used in treating alcoholism, but it was found to have mutagenic properties. A drug based on a similar compound (Antabuse) was created to treat alcoholism. 033-001