Psilocybe moravica

Cap: 2,5-3,5(-7) cm across, hemispherical or conical when young, margin joined to stipe by a cotinate white veil, becoming plane-hemisphirical, very obtusely conical, broadly campanulate or conical and margin becoming somehat mildy wavy. Margin striate when moist. Strongly hygrophanous and fragile with a separate pellicle. Sometimes bluish to bluish green with a blue spot in center of cap. Dark brown when moist, fading to a yelloish-ochraceous or yellow-brown, bluish toned. Gills: Thin, close-spaced, adnate, not subdecurrent, acurate in young and broad with maturity (ventricose). Brown and dark m when mature, with a grey tone and white edges. Stem: 5-9(-12) x (0,15)0,2-0,3(-0,4) cm, cylindrical, often with a somewhat scabrous surface, Usually lank, lesscommonly robust, short and didtincly curved and not enlarged at the base. with remains of a partial veil building a fibrillous annualar zone. Whitish rhisomorphs at base fibrillating into woody debris Whitish and off white, rarely whole stipe blue-green tinged. Stains blue when bruised. Spores: (10)11-13,5(-14,8) x (6-)6,2-7,0(-7-8) microns. Brown, ellipsoid, broadly ellipsoid or elongated and somewhat lemon-shaped. Sporeprint:Purple-brown Habitat: In groups on woody debris in deciduous or mixed forests, in grass on woody debris in soil and underbrush of Utica or Rubus, often in localities disturbed by human influence with accumulation of woody waste. Distribution: It has been onbly reported from five distinct localities int he Czech Republic, 230-700 m above sea level. Season Late September to end of november, or mid December depending on warm autumn months.: Dosage: Unknown at present

Psilocybe quebecensis

Cap: 1-3.5 cm broad. Nearly hemispheric at first, soon expanding to convex, then becoming broadly convex to plane, and without an umbo. Margin incurved at first and usually not markedly undulated; translucent-striate when moist. Pale straw yellow and often with brownish or tawny hues, becoming more grayish in drying. Bruising bluish when touched or disturbed. Surface smooth, becoming finely wrinkled with age, and viscid when moist. Flesh whitish. Gills: Attachment adnate, thin, moderately broad to swollen in the middle. Becoming very dark chestnut brown at maturity, and tisiil1y somewhat mottled, with the edges remaining whitish. Stem: 20-35 (45) mm long by 1-2.5 mm thick. Brittle, tough, and fibrous. Slightly enlarged at the apex and flared at the base, which is often furnished with rhizomorphs. Yellowish tawny, drying to a distinct grayish yellow, becoming bluish where bruised. Partial veil cortinate, and soon disappearing. No annulus. Microscopic features: Spores purplish brown and black In deposit, ellipsoid to subovoid in side and face view some spores mango shaped, 8-14 (16) by 6-8.8 µ. Basidia 4-spored. Pleurocystidia present, 12-35 by 9-15 µ, very distinctive by their swollen apices, as in Psilocybe cubensis and Psilocybe cyanescens. Cheilocystidia 18-36 by 5.5-10 µ, fusoid-ampullaceous with an extended neck, 2-3.3 µ thick. Habit, habitat, and distribution: Grows in sandy soils, particularly in outwashes or streams, and in the decayed-wood substratum of alder, birch, fir and spruce in the late summer and fall. Reported from Quebec, specifically in the Jacques Cartier river valley. Comments: Moderately active according to Ola’h and Heim (1967). P.quebecensis is a classic flood-plain species and is probably more widely distributed than presently reported. This species is not well known to Quebec residents, and I suspect that naturalized colonies could easily be established by those wishing to have P. quebecensis growing in their backyard.

Psilocybe caerulipes

Cap: 1-3.5 cm broad. Obtusely conic, becomingconic-campanulate to broadly convex to plane with age, and may retain aslight umbo. Margin incurved at first, often tinged greenish, veryirregular, closely translucent-striate, and decorated at first withfibrillose veil remnants. Cinnamon brown to dingy brown, hygrophanous,fading to pale ochraceous buff. Surface viscid when moist from agelatinous pellicle, but soon becoming dry and shiny. Flesh thin,pliant, and bluing where bruised. Gills: Attachment adnate tosinuate to uncinate, close to crowded, narrow, with edges remainingwhitish. Colour sordid brown at first, becoming rusty cinnamon. Stem: 30-60 mm long by 2-3 mmthick. Equal to slightly enlarged toward the base. White to buff atfirst, with the lower regions dingy brown at maturity, bluing wherebruised. Surface powdered at the apex, and covered with whitish tograyish fibrils downwards. Flesh stuffed with a pith and solid at firstbut soon becoming tubular. Partial veil thin, cortinate, and forming anevanescent fibrillose annular zone in the superior region of the stem,if at all. Microscopic features: Sporesdark purplish brown in deposit, ellipsoid, 7-10 by 4-5 microns from4-spored basidia. Spores from 2-spored basidia are larger.Plaurocystidia absent. Cheilocystidia 18-35 by 4.5-7.5 microns,lageniform, with a thin neck, sometimes forked, 1-2.5 microns broad atapices. Habit, habitat, and distribution:Solitary to cespitose on hardwood slash and debris, and on or aboutdecaying hardwood logs (particularly birch, beech, and maple),especially along river systems. Growing in the summer to fall afterwarm rains. Widely distributed east of the Great Plains, throughout theMidwestern and eastern United States. Surprisingly, Guzman made twocollections of this species in Mexico: the state of Hidalgo andsoutheastern Zacualtipan.

The Auckland Psilocybe, King's Psilocybe

Cap: 1.5-5.5 cm broad. Broadly conic, expanding to broadly umbonate, becoming nearly plane in maturity. Margin striate, upturned, irregular, and splitting in age, free of veil remnants. Dark brown to yellowish brown, hygrophanous, drying to pale yellowish brown to straw colored. Flesh white, bruising bluish in age or where injured. Gills: Attachment adnate, grayish yellowish brown, darker, with maturity, Edges whitish. Stem: 35-100 mm long by 1.5-5mm thick, even, pruinose above, covered with whitish, silky fibrils below. Flesh brownish, bruising bluish. Partial veil cortinate, poorly developed, soon disappearing. Microscopic features: Spores dark purplish brown in deposit, ovoid-ellipsoid in side view, ovoid in face view, (6.5) 7-9.5 by 3.5-5.5 u. Basidia 4-spored. Pleurocystidia 13-19 by 4.5-6 u, scattered, similar to cheilocystidia but with a shorter neck, up to 4.5u. Cheilocystidia 15-32 by 4-8 u, ventricose-rostrate, with a long flexuous neck up to 12 u long, often forking. Habit, habitat, and distribution: Common. Grows scattered to gregariously on soil rich in woody debris and litter beneath Leptospermum and dacrydium, and in pine (Pinus radiata) plantations. Reported only around Auckland, New Zealand. Comments: Estimated to be moderately potent. No analyses are known. With the heavy export of lumber and raw logs from the pine plantations of New Zealand, this species has a direct gateway for spreading to many other temperate regions of the world. This species resembles many of the lignicolous Psilocybes. Psilocybe aucklandii Guzman, King, Bandala

Magic mushrooms reduce anxiety over cancer

The active ingredient of magic mushrooms, psilocybin, has been shown to reduce anxiety and improve mood in people with cancer. Charles Grob from Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California, and colleagues, recruited 12 people with advanced-stage cancer who also suffered from anxiety. The volunteers received one dose of psilocybin or the vitamin niacin. Several weeks later they received the other treatment. The volunteers' heart rate, blood pressure and temperature were monitored throughout each treatment. They were also assessed for levels of depression, anxiety and mood. Volunteers reported feeling less depressed and anxious two weeks after receiving psilocybin but not two weeks after niacin alone. Six months later, the level of depression was significantly lower in all volunteers than it had been before the treatments began. Volunteers reported mildly altered states of consciousness after receiving psilocybin but noted no adverse physiological effects. With higher doses, the authors suggest the beneficial effects could become more pronounced, although further tests are needed to examine safety and efficacy.

Making a spore print

Spore prints are being used for 2 reasons; to do microscopic research to determine the mushroom strain and to use the spores to grow mushrooms. The image on the left illustrates what to do when you want to make a spore print. We’re now going to explain to you how to do it: Find the mushrooms you want the spore print from. Spore prints often make the difference when it comes to identification so you’ll need to do this often when hunting for wild mushrooms. Cut of the stem as close to the cap as possible. Don’t throw the stem away, you can still use it to reproduce the fungus and mushrooms. You can do this by using agar. Click here to see how to do it. Place to caps upside down on a piece of paper or aluminum foil. Use paper if you’re using the print for microscopic research, and use aluminum foil for mushroom cultivation. Wait for 24 hours. You’ll now see a very clear spore print. You’re done!

Stropharia Cubensis

Discovered by F.S. Earle in Cuba in 1904 (as Stropharia cubensis), this species is the largest and, arguably, the most handsome of all the Psilocybes. Where other Psilocybes are just plain folk, cubensis is gentry. In 1907 it was collected in Tonkin (now N. Vietnam) by N. Patouillard, and again in 1939 near Huautla de Jimenez, Oaxaca, Mexico, by acclaimed Harvard botanist and explorer Richard Evans Schultes, who described it in the Harvard University Botanical Museum Leaflets, and deposited specimens in the Farlow Herbarium at Harvard. Schultes was aided by Dr. Blas Pablo Reko, a Mexican naturalist who was one of the first to unravel the mystery surrounding the Indians' use of the divine mushrooms. Unaware of these previous citings, W.A. Murrill described it in 1941 as the Florida novelty, Stropharia cyanescens. It is also one of the most widespread psychoactive species in the subtropics, ranging from the U.S. Gulf Coast, where it fruits virtually year-round on cow pies, to Mexico, Central America, South America, West Indies, Thailand, Cambodia, India and Australia. Known to the Indians of Mexico as "San Isidro," this species is extremely active, with dried specimens typically yielding over 1% combined psilocybin/psilocin content. N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a psychedelic compound that is inactive orally, is an intermediary metabolite present in the biosynthetic pathway of Psilocybe cubensis, being only one step away from psilocin and two from psilocybin. Psilocin (designated 4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) and the human neurotransmitter serotonin (designated 5-hydroxytryptamine) differ by only one hydroxy molecule. In this respect, the mushrooms are mirror images of the human brain. Strains of Psilocybe cubensis are easily domesticated and will aggressively and potently fruit over a wide range of environmental parameters. Thanks to the Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis), a colonizer of Old World origin (via S. America), spores of this mushroom are carried for vast distances, thereby infecting virgin pastures. The Cattle Egret first appeared in Texas in 1955 and is now an abundant resident of Gulf Coast pastures, as is Psilocybe cubensis. The relationship between cattle, cattle egrets, and Psilocybe cubensis is an example of symbiosis -- a situation in which dissimilar organisms live together in close association. Cattle egrets are fond of hitching rides on the backs of cows where they make easy prey of swarming insects [Smith 1996].

The Crested Caracara is another bird that frequents the pasturelands of Texas and Mexico. Also known as "Audubon's Caracara" or "Mexican Eagle," this raptor is often seen feeding at cattle carcasses, in company with vultures. When carrion is scarce, the Crested Caracara may spend hours turning over cow pies in search of large beetles and other insects. Like the Cattle Egret, this bird is a potential vector of Psilocybe cubensis spores [Smith 1996].

Above: Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway). Also known as "Mexican Eagle," this raptor is depicted on the Mexican flag and is believed to be an omen of good luck. Aquarelle by Carol Ann Wells. Courtesy The Stain Blue Museum Collection.