| Psilocybe hispanica | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Agaricales |
| Family: | Hymenogastraceae |
| Genus: | Psilocybe |
| Species: | P. hispanica |
| Binomial name | |
| Psilocybe hispanica Guzmán (2000) | |
 | |
| P. hispanica is known only from a localized region inAragon, Spain. | |
Psilocybe hispanica is a species offungus in the familyHymenogastraceae. It produces small brownmushrooms with conical to convexcaps up to 10 mm (0.4 in) in diameter andstems 16 to 25 mm (0.6 to 1.0 in) long by 0.5 to 1 mm (0.02 to 0.04 in) thick. Reported as new to science in 2000, it is only known from thePyrenees mountain range in northern Spain and southwestern France, where it grows on horse dung in grass fields at elevations of 1,700 to 2,300 m (5,600 to 7,500 ft). The mushroom contains thepsychoactive compoundpsilocybin. The possible depiction of this species in the 6,000-year-old Selva Pascualarock art suggests that it might have been used in ancientreligious rituals—the oldest evidence of such usage in prehistoric Europe.
Psilocybe hispanica | |
|---|---|
 | Gills onhymenium |
  | Cap isconical orconvex |
 | Hymenium isadnate |
 | Stipe isbare |
 | Spore print ispurple-brown |
 | Ecology issaprotrophic |
 | Edibility ispsychoactive |
The species was described by Mexican mycologistGastón Guzmán in a 2000 publication, based on specimens collected by Ignacio Seral Bozal nearHuesca in northern Spain in 1995.Psilocybe hispanica isclassified in thesectionSemilanceata of the genusPsilocybe because of its thick-walledspores andfruit body that bruises blue with handling.[1] Thespecific epithethispanica isLatin for "Spanish".[2]
Thecap ranges in shape from somewhat conical to convex, and reaches diameters of 5 to 10 millimetres (0.2 to 0.4 in). Its surface is smooth, somewhat sticky to dry, and brown to brownish-yellow. Thegills are somewhatadnate, and brown-violaceous with whitish edges. Thestem is 16 to 25 mm (0.6 to 1.0 in) long by 0.5 to 1 mm (0.02 to 0.04 in) thick, cylindrical, and slightly bulbous at the base. It is whitish-yellow, withvinaceous or blue-green to blackish tones towards the base. Mature specimens do not have aveil on the stem. Theflesh is whitish, but like most psilocybin-containing species, stains blue when injured.[1]
Thespores areellipsoid and measure 12–14.5 by 6.5–8 μm. They have a brownish-yellow wall greater than 1 μm thick and a broad apicalgerm pore with a shorthilar appendix at the base (a region where the spore was once attached to thesterigma). Thebasidia (spore-bearing cells in thehymenium) are four-spored,hyaline (translucent), and measure 32–44 by 8–12 μm. Thecap cuticle is made of a layer 130–150 μm thick, with hyaline, thin-walled gelatinizedhyphae measuring 1.5–4 μm broad. The hypodermium (the tissue layer directly under the pileipellis) is made of thin-walled, hyaline hyphae, 2.5–8 μm broad, with a brownish incrustingpigment.Clamp connections are present in the hyphae.[1]
Psilocybe semilanceata is roughly similar in appearance toP. hispanica, but may distinguished by its mycenoid (Mycena-like) appearance and acuteumbonate cap.[1] Although the grassland habitat of the two species is similar,P. semilanceata does not grow directly on dung; rather, it is asaprobic species that grows on decaying grass roots.[3]P. fimetaria also resemblesP. hispanica, but it also has a mycenoid appearance and has a ring on the stem. In terms of microscopic characteristics,P. fimetaria has larger cheilocystidia that measure 20–32 by 4–8 μm.P. hispanica differs fromP. liniformans var.liniformans in that it lacks a gelatinous gill edge.P. liniformans var.americana has larger cheilocystidia, measuring 22–33 by 5.5–9 μm, and it is known to grow only on soil around herbs, in the Northwest and Northeast USA and Chile.[1]Deconica coprophila (formerly known asPsilocybe coprophila) is asmall brownish mushroom that also grows on dung, but it does not contain psilocybin and does not have a bluing stem.[4]
Psilocybe hispanica is acoprophilous fungus (dung-loving), and produces fruit bodies that grow solitarily or in dense groups on horse dung; sometimes more than 25 fruit bodies can arise from the same dung.[5] In Guzmán's original report, they were found in a Pyrenean meadow inAragon, at an elevation of 2,300 metres (7,500 ft). In 2003, the species was reported from Tramacastillo de Tena, a small village in the Pyrenees; it was also reported to have "penetrated the French part of the Pyrenees". Within its restricted range, the mushroom is "very common" at altitudes of 1,700 to 2,300 m (5,600 to 7,500 ft).[5]
The mushroom is consumed recreationally by Spanish youths for itsmind-altering effects;[5][6] other mushrooms used recreationally in Spain includeP. semilanceata andP. gallaeciae.[7] Guzmán and Castro report that a 17th-century medallion found inTena Valley in the southern Pyrenees had images of a devil and mushrooms carved on it. The mushrooms—possibly eitherP. semilanceata orP. hispanica, according to Guzmán and Castro—were used inwitchcraft, a common practice in the valley during theMiddle Ages.[5]
It has been argued that prehistoric rock art at a site known as Selva Pascuala near the Spanish town ofVillar del Humo offers evidence thatP. hispanica was used inreligious rituals 6,000 years ago. Therock shelter at Selva Pascuala was discovered in the early 20th century; in the early 21st century it was noticed that objects in one of the murals, which previously had been described as "mushrooms", matched the generalmorphology ofP. hispanica: the mural depicts a row of 13 mushroom-like objects with convex to conical caps, and ringless stems that vary from straight to sinuous (wavy). Additionally, the mural shows a bull, which suggests an association with the coprophilicP. hispanica. Although the hallucinogenic speciesP. semilanceata is also widespread in the area where the mural was found, its differing shape (narrowly conical and acutelypapillate) and its habitat on soil instead of dung suggests it is not the species represented in the mural. If the interpretation is correct, the mural represents the oldest evidence of psychedelic fungi use in Europe, and the third reported instance of rock art suggesting prehistoric usage of neurotropic fungi. The only older example is fromTassili n'Ajjer, in theSahara desert in southeastAlgeria. In 1992, the Italian ethnobotanistGiorgio Samorini reported finding a painted mural dated 7000 to 9000 BCE portraying mushrooms,[8] later tentatively identified asPsilocybe mairei, a species known from Algeria andMorocco.[9]