| Psilocybe hoogshagenii | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Psilocybe hoogshagenii in Mocoa, Putumayo Dept, Colombia | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Agaricales |
| Family: | Hymenogastraceae |
| Genus: | Psilocybe |
| Species: | P. hoogshagenii |
| Binomial name | |
| Psilocybe hoogshagenii Heim (1958) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
Psilocybe caerulipes var.gastoniiSinger (1958) | |
| Psilocybe hoogshagenii | |
|---|---|
| Mycological characteristics | |
 | Gills onhymenium |
  | Cap is conical or convex |
  | Hymenium is adnate or adnexed |
 | Stipe is bare |
 | Spore print is purple-brown |
 | Ecology issaprotrophic |
 | Edibility ispsychoactive |
Psilocybe hoogshagenii is a species ofpsilocybin mushroom in the familyHymenogastraceae. The mushroom has a brownish conical or bell-shapedcap up to 3 cm (1.2 in) wide that has an extendedpapilla up to 4 mm long. The stem is slender (up to 3 mm thick) and 5 to 9 cm (2.0 to 3.5 in) long. ThevarietyP. hoogshagenii var.convexa lacks the long papilla.
The species is found in Mexico, where it grows singly or in small groups in clayey soils insubtropical coffee plantations, and from Colombia and Brazil in South America. The mushroom contains thepsychedelic compoundspsilocybin andpsilocin, and all parts will stain blue or bluish black when handled or injured.P. hoogshagenii is used fordivinatory purposes by some indigenous groups in Mexico.
The species was firstdescribed scientifically by French mycologistRoger Heim in 1958.[2] It was one of several species described and illustrated in the popular American weekly magazineLife ("Seeking the Magic Mushroom"), in whichR. Gordon Wasson recounted thepsychedelic visions that he experienced during the divinatory rituals of theMixtec people, thereby introducing psilocybin mushrooms to Western popular culture;[3] it was however, mislabeled asPsilocybe zaptecorum.[4] Similarly,Psilocybe specialistGastón Guzmán suggests thatP. zapotecorum, as described byRolf Singer in 1958,[5] is misidentified as it agrees well with thetype ofP. hoogshagenii.[1] The speciesPsilocybe caerulipes var.gastonii, described by Singer in 1958,[5] is asynonym ofP. hoogshagenii.[1]
The species is named in honor of American anthropologist Searle Hoogshagen,[6] who helped Heim and Wasson in their search for entheogenic mushrooms in Mexico.[1] The mushroom is known locally by severalcommon names. In Spanish, it is calledlos niños orlos Chamaquitos ("the little boys"), inMazatec aspajaritos de monte ("little birds of the woods"), inNahuatl ascihuatsinsintle orteotlaquilnanácatl ("divine mushroom that describes or paints"), and inMixe asAtka:t ("judge") orna.shwi.ñ mush ("mushrooms of the earth").[7]
ThevarietyP. hoogshagenii var.convexa was described by Guzmán in 1983 to account for mushrooms without an acute papilla that were otherwise roughly the same as the type variety.Psilocybe semperviva, described by Heim and Roger Cailleux in 1958,[8] was later determined by Guzmán to besynonymous withP. hoogshagenii var.convexa.[9] Thevarietal epithetconvexa refers to the convex shape of the cap.[1]
Thecap ranges in shape from conical to bell-shaped to convex, reaching diameters of 0.7–3 in (18–76 mm), although a range of 1–2.5 cm (0.4–1.0 in) is most usual. It has a long, sharppapilla that is up to 4 mm (0.16 in). The cap surface is smooth, somewhat sticky when wet, and often has ridges extending halfway to the center of the cap. Its color is reddish brown to orangish brown to yellowish, and it ishygrophanous, fading when dry to a straw orfulvous color. The brownishgills have an adnate to adnexed attachment to the stem; mature gills become purplish black because of the spores. The hollowstem measures 50 to 90 mm (2.0 to 3.5 in) long by 1–3 mm thick. It is roughly equal in width throughout its length or slightly thicker at the base, and sometimes twisted. A thin rudimentary cortina-likepartial veil covers the gills of immature fruit bodies, but it is fragile and disappears soon after the cap expands. Theflesh in the cap is whitish, but more yellow in the stem. Both the odor and taste of the mushroom are farinaceous (similar to freshly ground flour). As is characteristic of psilocybin mushrooms, all parts of the fruit body bruise blue when handled or injured.P. hoogshagenii var.convexa lacks an acute papilla, although it occasionally has a small, rounded papilla. Its cap ranges in width from 0.5–1.5 cm (0.20–0.59 in), and it is convex to roughly bell-shaped. All other macroscopic and microscopic features are identical to the type variety.[1]
Thespore print is dark purplish brown.Spores arerhomboid or nearly so in face view, and more or lessellipsoid when viewed from the side. They are thick-walled, with dimensions of 6.5–4–5.6 μm, and feature a broadgerm pore. Thebasidia (spore-bearing cells) are usually four-spored,hyaline (translucent), roughly cylindrical or with a central constriction, and measure 12–22 by 5.5–9 μm. Pleurocystidia (cystidia on the gill face) are relatively abundant; they are ventricose (swollen), club-shaped or irregularly shaped, measuring 16–36 by 8–12 μm. The cheilocystidia (cystidia on the gill edge) are also abundant. They are 19–35 by 4.4–6.6 μm, lageniform (flask-shaped), narrowing into a long neck with a width of 1–3 μm, and either acute or somewhat capitate (ending in a roughly globular tip).Clamp connections are present in thehyphae.[1]
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| Spores are rhomboid to ellipsoidal depending on the direction in which they are viewed. | Cheilocystidia are flask-shaped with a long neck. | A swollen pleurocystidium is visible between two basidia with spores still attached. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Small reticule divisions are 1 μm. All images were photographed at 1000x magnification. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fruit bodies ofPsilocybe hoogshagenii grow solitarily or in small groups inhumus or in muddy clay soils in subtropical coffee plantations. According to the natives of theSan Agustin Loxicha region of Mexico, the fungus tends to fruit simultaneously in large flushes.[1] In Mexico, fruiting occurs in June and July, whereas in Argentina, fruiting is in February. The mushroom has been reported from Mexico in the states ofPuebla,Oaxaca, andChiapas, where it grows at elevations of 1,000 to 1,800 m (3,300 to 5,900 ft).[10] In South America, the species is known from Brazil and Colombia.[11]P. hoogshagenii var.convexa has been found ingrasslands inHidalgo, and Oacaxa, but is most common in Puebla. It fruits from June to August.[1]
Psilocybe hoogshagenii mushrooms are used forentheogenic, or spiritual, purposes by someChinantec-speakingcuranderos of theIxtlán District in Oacaxa.[12] The mushrooms are primarily used to diagnose and prognose illness, and, to a lesser extent, todivine the location of objects or animals that have been lost or stolen.[13] Guzmán also indicates contemporary ceremonial usage byMixe andZapotec people.[14]Paul Stamets, in hisPsilocybe Mushrooms of the World, rates the psychoactivepotency of the mushroom as "moderately active", and reports psilocybin levels of 0.6% (milligrams per gram of dried mushroom), and psilocin of 0.1%. In comparison, Stamets indicates that the commonly cultivated speciesP. cubensis contains 0.63% and 0.60% (psilocybin and psilocin), while the widespreadP. semilanceata has 0.98% and 0.02%.[15] Chemical analysis ofP. hoogshagenii specimens from Brazil yielded up to 0.3% psilocybin and 0.3% psilocin.[16]