| Psilocybe stuntzii | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Agaricales |
| Family: | Hymenogastraceae |
| Genus: | Psilocybe |
| Species: | P. stuntzii |
| Binomial name | |
| Psilocybe stuntzii | |
| Psilocybe stuntzii | |
|---|---|
| Mycological characteristics | |
 | Gills onhymenium |
  | Cap is convex or umbonate |
  | Hymenium is adnate or sinuate |
 | Stipe has aring |
 | Spore print is purple-brown |
 | Ecology issaprotrophic |
 | Edibility ispsychoactive |
Psilocybe stuntzii, also known asStuntz's blue legs andblue ringers it is apsilocybin mushroom of the familyHymenogastraceae, havingpsilocybin andpsilocin as main active compounds.
The mushroom is named in honor of mycologistDaniel Stuntz of theUniversity of Washington.[1]
Thepileus is 0.5–3.5 centimetres (1⁄4–1+1⁄2 in), obtuselyconic to convex, expanding to convex-umbonate or flat with age.[2] The margin is translucent-striate when moist and uplifted in age. It ishygrophanous, glabrous, dark chestnut brown while lighter towards the center. The pileus is olive-greenish at times, fading to a pale yellowish brown or pale yellow.[2] It is viscid when moist from a gelatinouspellicle, staining slightly greenish-blue when injured or with age.
Thegills areadnate orsinuate oradnexed, close to sub-distant and moderately broad, yellowish brown at first, soon violet brown or chocolate brown to blackish violet, and uniform or somewhat mottled, with whitish edges. Thespore print is dark violaceous brown.[3]
Thestipe is 2–7.5 cm x 1.5–6 mm, equal or slightly enlarged at the base, cylindric or subcylindric, twisted striate at times, flexuous,glabrous to slightly fibrillose, dry, stuffed with a pith and becoming hollow, and white or whitish silky to ochraceous or brownish fibrillose. The partial veil is thinly membranous, leaving a fragileannulus that becomes more noticeable as it darkens with spores. It stains blue-green when injured, most noticeably on the ring.[2]
The taste and odor arefarinaceous.[4]
Thespores are 8.2–12.6 x (6) 7.1–7.7 x 5.5–6.6 μm, subrhomboid in face view, subellipsoid in side view, with a hilar appendage visible and a truncate apex with a broad germ pore, thick walled, and dingy yellow brown.[4]
The basidia are 16.5–25 x 5.5–7.7 μm, 4-spored, andhyaline.Pleurocystidia are absent andcheilocystidia are 22–27.5 x 4.4–6.6 μm, abundant, forming a sterile band, hyaline, lageniform, fusiform-lanceolate or fusoid-ampullaceous, with an elongate and flexuous neck, and are 1.6–2.2 μm in diameter, sometimes irregularly branched. Clamp connections are present.[4]
Psilocybe stuntzii is found growing scattered togregarious to cespitose, rarely solitary, inconifer wood chips and bark mulch, in soils rich in woody debris, and in new lawns of freshly laid sod or any newly mulched garden throughout the western region of thePacific Northwest.[2] It appears from late July through December, being observed all year long in theSeattle area, also reportedly appearing inCalifornia, rarely as far south asSanta Cruz. There was a time when this mushroom appeared in over 40 percent of all new lawns and mulched in areas in thePuget Sound region of the Pacific Northwest. Due to a disappearance of pastures south of Seattle in the Tukwila-Kent-Auburn areas, this mushroom now only appears sporadically in certain new lawns which are well fertilized and manicured.[citation needed]
This mushroom is hallucinogenic. Additionally, it closely resembles the highly toxicGalerina marginata, and several poisonings have been attributed to collectors consumingG. marginata after mistaking them for hallucinogenicP. stuntzii.[5]
This species ... was named in honor of Dr. Daniel Stuntz, who made the type collections.