Coprinus comatus, the shaggy ink cap, lawyer's wig, or shaggy mane, is a common edible mushroom often seen growing on lawns, along gravel roads and waste areas. These widespread and common mushrooms have a very short shelf-life, typically only lasting 24 hours from emerging to liquefying. The young fruit bodies first appear as white cylinders emerging from the ground, then the bell-shaped caps open out. The caps are white, and covered with scales—this is the origin of the common names of the mushroom. The gills beneath the cap are white, then pink, then turn black and secrete a black liquid filled with spores (hence the "ink cap" name). This mushroom is unusual because it will turn black and dissolve itself in a matter of hours after being picked or depositing spores.