''Inocybe aeruginascens'' is a member of the genus ''Inocybe'' which is widely distributed in Europe. The species was first documented by I. Ferencz in Ócsa, Hungary on June 15, 1965.

Description

''Inocybe aeruginascens'' is a small

mycorrhizal A mycorrhiza (; , mycorrhiza, or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant's rhizosphere, the plant root system and its surroundings. Mycorrhizae play ...

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

with a

conic A conic section, conic or a quadratic curve is a curve obtained from a cone's surface intersecting a plane. The three types of conic section are the hyperbola, the parabola, and the ellipse; the circle is a special case of the ellipse, thou ...

convex Convex or convexity may refer to: Science and technology * Convex lens, in optics Mathematics * Convex set, containing the whole line segment that joins points ** Convex polygon, a polygon which encloses a convex set of points ** Convex polytop ...

cap which becomes plane in age and is often

fibrillose Fibrils () are structural biological materials found in nearly all living organisms. Not to be confused with fibers or filaments, fibrils tend to have diameters ranging from 10 to 100 nanometers (whereas fibers are micro to milli-scale struc ...

near the margin. It is usually less than 5 cm across, has a slightly darker blunt umbo and an incurved margin when young. The cap color varies from buff to light yellow brown, usually with greenish stains which disappear when the mushroom dries. The gills are

adnate Adnate may refer to: * Adnation, in botany, the fusion of two or more whorls of a flower * Adnate, in mycology, a classification of lamellae (gills) * Conjoined twins Conjoined twins, popularly referred to as Siamese twins, are twins joined '' ...

to nearly free, numerous, colored pale brown, grayish brown, or tobacco brown. The

fruit body The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...

has greenish tones and bruises blue where damaged. The

spores In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plant ...

are smooth and

ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that can be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional Scaling (geometry), scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a Surface (mathemat ...

, measuring 6–9.5 x 4.5

micrometre The micrometre (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American English), also commonly known by the non-SI term micron, is a uni ...

s and forming a clay brown spore print. The stem is 2–7 cm long, 3 to 8 mm thick, and is equal width for the whole length, sometimes with some swelling at the base. It is solid, pale grey, becoming bluish green from the bottom up. The stem is fibrous and appears to be covered with fine powder near the top. It has a partial veil which often disappears in age and an unpleasant soapy odor.

Distribution and habitat

''Inocybe aeruginascens'' is widely distributed in temperate areas and has been reported in central Europe and western North America. It grows in moist sandy soils in a mycorrhizal relationship with poplar, linden, oak and willow trees.

Edibility

toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating ex ...

information exists on ''Inocybe aeruginascens'' currently, however a minimum of "23 unintentional intoxications" were reported in 1982 by Drewitz and Babos. Unintentional consumption could be due to the similarity of ''

Marasmius oreades ''Marasmius oreades'', also known as the fairy ring mushroom, fairy ring champignon or Scotch bonnet, is a mushroom native to North America and Europe. Its common names can cause confusion, as many other mushrooms grow in fairy rings, such as t ...

''. The symptoms of "intoxication" were hallucinogenic, leading

Gartz Gartz is a border town in the Uckermark district in Brandenburg, in north-eastern Germany. It is located on the West bank of the Oder River, on the border with Poland, about south of Szczecin, Poland. It is located within the historic region of W ...

and Drewitz to eventually discover the first source of

psilocybin Psilocybin, also known as 4-phosphoryloxy-''N'',''N''-dimethyltryptamine (4-PO-DMT), is a natural product, naturally occurring tryptamine alkaloid and Investigational New Drug, investigational drug found in more than List of psilocybin mushroom ...

in any ''Inocybe'' species. There are no known deaths directly related to consumption, however edibility is not yet conclusive.

Biochemistry

''Inocybe aeruginascens'' contains the formerly known alkaloids

psilocin Psilocin, also known as 4-hydroxy-''N'',''N''-dimethyltryptamine (4-HO-DMT), is a substituted tryptamine alkaloid and a serotonergic psychedelic. It is present in most psychedelic mushrooms together with its phosphorylated counterpart psilocy ...

baeocystin Baeocystin, also known as norpsilocybin or 4-phosphoryloxy-''N''-methyltryptamine (4-PO-NMT), is a zwitterionic alkaloid and analogue of psilocybin. It is found as a minor compound in most psilocybin mushrooms together with psilocybin, norbaeo ...

, as well a newly discovered

indoleamine Indolamines are a family of neurotransmitters that share a common molecular structure. Indolamines are a classification of monoamine neurotransmitter, along with catecholamines and ethylamine derivatives. A common example of an indolamine is the ...

4-phosphoryloxy-''N,N,N''-tri

methyl In organic chemistry, a methyl group is an alkyl derived from methane, containing one carbon atom bonded to three hydrogen atoms, having chemical formula (whereas normal methane has the formula ). In formulas, the group is often abbreviated as ...

tryptamine Tryptamine is an indolamine metabolite of the essential amino acid tryptophan. The chemical structure is defined by an indole—a fused benzene and pyrrole ring, and a 2-aminoethyl group at the second carbon (third aromatic atom, with the firs ...

Jochen Gartz Jochen Gartz (born 1 October, 1953) was a German chemist and mycologist who studied psilocybin mushrooms as well as other psychoactive plants. He was considered an expert in this field. Among other accomplishments, Gartz is known for discovering ...

named this new substance

aeruginascin Aeruginascin, also known as 4-phosphoryloxy-''N'',''N'',''N''-trimethyltryptamine (4-PO-TMT), is an indoleamine derivative which occurs naturally within the mushrooms '' Inocybe aeruginascens'', ''Pholiotina cyanopus'', and ''Psilocybe cubensis' ...

after the mushroom species. Aeruginascin is the ''N''-tri

analogue of

. ''Inocybe aeruginascens'' and ''

Pholiotina cyanopus ''Conocybula cyanopus'' is a species of fungus that contains psychoactive compounds including psilocybin and the uncommon aeruginascin. Originally described as ''Galerula cyanopus'' by American mycologist George Francis Atkinson in 1918. It was ...

'' are the only known natural sources of aeruginascin.

References

External links