Identification marks: Cap: up to 5 inches long, oval, becoming bell-shaped, gradually expanding, covered with large shaggy up-turned scales, splitting at the margin, finally deliquescing, white to brownish or grey when young, the color predominantly white. Gills: Free from stem, thin, very close, white at first, becoming pink then black and finally dissolving with the cap into a black inky fluid. Stem: up to 12 inches long and 1 inch thick, smooth, brittle, hollow, splitting readily because of its rather fibrous nature, creamy white with lightly attached ring which is movable and often slips to the base of the stem. Spore Print: black.
Habitat: In clusters on the ground, along roadsides, on compost piles, lawns.
Season: Late summer and Fall.