Coprinus comatus

After cool autumn rains, these shaggy, egg-shaped mushrooms pop out of grasslands and poor soils seemingly overnight. And they do it with such force, these soft, fleshy mushrooms can actually lift rocks and rupture asphalt.

Scientists are fascinated by the hydraulic pressure demonstrated by Coprinus comatus.

And here’s another trick: Within a day or two, even as the mushroom cap is rising to expand on its hollow stem, Coprinus comatus becomes totally self destructive as the cap of the mushroom automatically dissolves into a watery black ink and shrivels away. It’s a process called “deliquescence” by scientists. Regular people call them “Inky Caps.”