Fungus found in Sussex farmhouse

[JSwan]

Hello!

I am calling on your good nature to see if you can identify this fungus. I have recently bought a farmhouse in Sussex which has been unoccupied for over a year. There has been a water leak in the loft and this fungus appeared a within a week of discovering the leak. The leak was repaired and the fungus seems to have shrivelled up. Thankfully there is no-one living in the house at the moment, but I'm worried they might be toxic. I have done a bit of research, but I really have no knowledge of fungi and I am a bit lost trying to identify them. Any guidance you can give would be very gratefully received.

Many thanks
James

[JdeV]

You will probably want to get the wood examined!

Anyway it is not dangerous to have around, it is an Ink Cap, I think in the genus Coprinopsis.

[Andy Overall]

Originally Posted by JSwan

Hello!

I am calling on your good nature to see if you can identify this fungus. I have recently bought a farmhouse in Sussex which has been unoccupied for over a year. There has been a water leak in the loft and this fungus appeared a within a week of discovering the leak. The leak was repaired and the fungus seems to have shrivelled up. Thankfully there is no-one living in the house at the moment, but I'm worried they might be toxic. I have done a bit of research, but I really have no knowledge of fungi and I am a bit lost trying to identify them. Any guidance you can give would be very gratefully received.

Many thanks
James

You have nothing too worry about toxicity wise, this is a harmless ink cap. I have to add though that I have never seen them growing like this what a brilliant picture, although I'm sure it isn't for you ! Once you get the place dried out, it will most likely disappear.

Andy

[flaxton]

Try Coprinopsis kimurae, described as having a similar look to C picacea and growing on ceilings (among other things).

Mal

[derekschafer]

A number of species of Coprinopsis from Section Alachuani that have burnt ground as their usual habitat also occur occasionally on damp ceilings. One is Coprinopsis gonophylla, which was reported in the 1950's from ceilings in the London area and I found it on the ceiling of a flat in Wimbledon that my daughter was living in in the 1990's. C. kimurae is another one reported from ceilings, as Mal notes. Roy Watling reported that there is actually a complex of species with different sized spores around C. gonophylla and described one - Coprinus grossii (not yet recombined in Coprinopsis) from a ceiling in Edinburgh among other places.

I would be interested in looking at any dried material from the Sussex ceiling to see what it might be.

Derek Schafer