The battle for space: Plants versus Fungi

The fungi are common inkcaps Coprinus atramentarius. They are edible but not in conjunction with alcohol unless you want to be very, very ill indeed.
Eventually the mature caps will deliquesce and turn black. An excellent black drawing ink can then be made by boiling them with a little water and cloves. Hence their common name!
Coprinus, literally means 'living on dung'. The specific epithet atramentaria comes from the Latin atramentum meaning a very dark or black substance, such as ink.