On a lawn, in a paddock, by the side of a gravel road. That is where the shaggy inkcap grows. Not in the deep bush. Not on the forest floor. In the places where people have been. The shaggy inkcap, also known as lawyer's wig, is a distinctive mushroom. It has a tall, shaggy, white cap. This blackens and deliquesces with age. The cap is cylindrical when young. It is covered in upturned white scales. These give it the shaggy appearance. The gills are white. They turn pink, then black. Then they dissolve into a black, inky liquid. The transformation is rapid. The result is messy. That is the trick. The mushroom eats itself. The cap liquefies from the bottom up. It turns into a black, spore-filled goo. This drips onto the ground. The spores are dispersed by rain and insects. They are carried away to start new colonies. The strategy is autolytic. The dispersal is passive. The cycle continues. It does not wait for decay. It creates it. Edible when young, before the gills blacken. The flesh is firm and white. It has a delicate flavour. Cook it quickly. It does not keep. Within hours of picking, the deliquescence begins. The window is narrow. The reward is modest. The timing is critical. If you wait too long, you get ink. If you act fast, you get dinner. The choice is yours. It grows in lawns, pastures and disturbed ground. Often in small groups or rings. Common throughout New Zealand. An urban mushroom, found where people live. The Māori name is not recorded. It arrived from Europe. Probably in imported soil or grass seed. It has made itself at home in modified landscapes. The introduction was accidental. The establishment was total. The spread is ubiquitous. Not threatened. Not rare. Just there, on the lawn, turning into black goo. That is the shaggy inkcap. A mushroom that eats itself. A reminder that decay is not always external. Sometimes it comes from within. The process is internal. The result is visible. The fungus does not care for opinion. It cares for dispersion. It finds it in the liquefaction. It uses the rain. It uses the insect. It carries on. The scales are white. The gills are pink. The ink is black. The taste is mild. The texture is firm. The decay is swift. The lawn is green. The mushroom is transient. It appears after rain. It disappears into slime. It leaves no trace. Except the spores. And the memory. And that seems to be enough.