| Psilocybe caerulescens | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Agaricales |
| Family: | Hymenogastraceae |
| Genus: | Psilocybe |
| Species: | P. caerulescens |
| Binomial name | |
| Psilocybe caerulescens | |
| Synonyms | |
P. caerulescensssp. caerulescensvar. albida | |
| Psilocybe caerulescens | |
|---|---|
| Mycological characteristics | |
 | Gills onhymenium |
 | Cap is convex |
  | Hymenium is adnate or sinuate |
 | Stipe is bare |
 | Spore print is purple-brown |
 | Ecology issaprotrophic |
 | Edibility ispsychoactive |
Psilocybe caerulescens, also known aslandslide mushroom ("derrumbe" in Spanish), is apsilocybin mushroom havingpsilocybin andpsilocin as main active compounds. Along withPsilocybe mexicana andPsilocybe aztecorum, it is one of the mushrooms likely to have been used by theAztecs and is currently used byMazatec shamans for itsentheogenic properties.
The taste and smell ofPsilocybe caerulescens are stronglyfarinaceous, reminiscent of cucumber, though the smell lessens with age or when dry.
Thecap is (1)3–7(10) cm broad.Convex to obtuselycampanulate with an incurved margin at first, rarely becoming plane, and often areumbonate or with a slight depression in the center. It isviscid when moist from a separable gelatinouspellicle. The margin is slightly translucent-striate when moist. The cap ishygrophanous, yellowish brown to reddish brown with a silvery-blue metallic luster, paler at the margin, and drying to a beige or straw yellow. It readily bruises blue when handled, the younger specimens bruising bluish olivaceous or even blackish. The cap often has a great variation in color and form.
Thegills areadnate tosinuate and close to subclose. They are whitish, yellowish grey when young, becoming darkviolaceous brown to sepia brown with age; the edges remain slightly whitish.
Psilocybe caerulescensspores are dark violaceous brown.
Thestipe is (2)5–9(13) cm long and (5)8–10(12) mm thick. It is equal or enlarging slightly at the base, and is somewhat flexuous, hollow, andsubpruinose tofloccose. The stipe is whitish to reddish brown or blackish and readily bruises blue.Rhizomorphs are sometimes attached to the base. Theveil is well-developed but does not form a permanentannulus.
Thespores arehexagonal tosubrhomboid in frontal view andellipsoid in side view, (5.6)6.7–8(9) x (4) 4.8–6.4 (7.2) x 4–4.8 (5.5) μm. Thebasidia each produce four spores, and occasionally only two larger spores. Thecheilocystidia are 16–27(29) x 4.5–8 μm and lageniform to narrowly lageniform, with a flexuous neck that is 1–2.5μm broad and sometimes bifurcate. Basidia 18.5–22.5 × 5.5–6.5μm, cylindrical, four spored, hyaline and thin-walled. Pleurocystidia 12–20 (–32) × 4.5–9 (‒10)μm, fusiform, occasionally conical, clavate or utriform, occasionally bifurcate, hyaline, thin-walled. The subhymenium is ramose-inflated. Pileus trama is radial, with hyphae 5–32μm, yellowish to yellowish brown, thick walled (0.5–1μm). Pileipellis an ixocutis, (9–) 12–54μm wide, hyphae 1.5–4 (–5.5)μm diameter, hyaline and thin-walled. Pileocystidia (10–) 12–28 × 4–9.5μm, globose, cylindrical, clavate, flexuose or pyriform and thin-walled. Stipitipellis a cutis, hyphae 1.5–9.5μm diameter, yellowish brown, thin-walled (up to 0.5–0.8μm thick). Caulocystidia (19–) 22.5–49.5 (–56) × 4–8 (–9.5)μm, cylindrical, lageniform, fusiform or, utriform, or lageniform, hyaline and, thin-walled.
Psilocybe caerulescens is found growinggregariously orcespitosely, rarely solitarily, from June through October ondisturbed ground often devoid of herbaceous plants. It often grows in sunny locations, preferring muddy orangish brown soils with much woody debris.Psilocybe caerulescens was first reported from nearMontgomery, Alabama, by Murrill in 1923 on sugarcane mulch, not re-documented from that locality since. It was recently found inSouth Carolina in September 2008.Psilocybe caerulescens is common and widespread throughout northernGeorgia. Found in N. Georgia in 2000.
