''Psilocybe azurescens'' is a species of

psychedelic mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing 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 name "mushroom" is t ...

whose main active compounds are

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 ...

and

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 ...

. It is among the most potent of the

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 ...

-bearing mushrooms, containing up to 1.8%

, 0.5% psilocin, and 0.4%

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 ...

by dry weight, averaging to about 1.1% psilocybin and 0.15% psilocin. It belongs to the family

Hymenogastraceae The Hymenogastraceae is a family of fungi in the order Agaricales with both agaric and false-truffle shaped fruitbodies. Formerly, prior to molecular analyses, the family was restricted to the false-truffle genera. The mushroom genus '' Psilo ...

in the order

Agaricales The Agaricales are an order (biology), order of fungi in the division (mycology), division Basidiomycota. As originally conceived, the order contained all the agarics (gilled mushrooms), but subsequent research has shown that not all agarics are ...

Description

*Pileus: The cap ( pileus) of ''Psilocybe azurescens'' is in diameter, conic to convex, expanding to broadly convex and eventually flattening with age with a pronounced, persistent broad umbo; surface smooth,

viscous Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for example, syrup h ...

when moist, covered by a separable gelatinous pellicle; chestnut to ochraceous brown to caramel in color, often becoming pitted with dark blue or bluish black zones,

hygrophanous The adjective hygrophanous refers to the color change of mushroom tissue (especially the pileus surface) as it loses or absorbs water, which causes the pileipellis The pileipellis is the uppermost layer of hyphae in the pileus of a fungal fr ...

, fading to light straw color in drying, strongly bruising blue when damaged; margin even, sometimes irregular and eroded at maturity, slightly incurved at first, soon decurved, flattening with maturity, translucent striate and often leaving a fibrillose annular zone in the upper regions of the stipe. *Gills: The

lamellae Lamella (: lamellae) means a small plate or flake in Latin, and in English may refer to: Biology * Lamella (mycology), a papery rib beneath a mushroom cap * Lamella (botany) * Lamella (surface anatomy), a plate-like structure in an animal * Lame ...

are ascending, sinuate to adnate, brown, often stained into black where injured, close, with two tiers of lamellulae, mottled, edges whitish. *Spore Print: The

spore print 300px, Making a spore print of the mushroom ''Volvariella volvacea'' shown in composite: (photo lower half) mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; (photo upper half) cap removed after 24 hours showing warm orange ("tussock") color spore print. ...

is a dark purplish brown to purplish black in mass. *Stipe: The stipe is in length and thick, silky white, dingy brown from the base or in age, hollow at maturity, and composed of twisted, cartilaginous tissue. The base of the stipe thickens downwards, is often curved, and is characterized by coarse white aerial tufts of

mycelium Mycelium (: mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Its normal form is that of branched, slender, entangled, anastomosing, hyaline threads. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are fo ...

, often with azure tones. The mycelium surrounding the stipe base is densely

rhizomorphic Mycelial cords are linear aggregations of parallel-oriented hyphae. The mature cords are composed of wide, empty vessel hyphae surrounded by narrower sheathing hyphae. Cords may look similar to plant roots, and also frequently have similar functi ...

(i.e., root-like), silky white, tenaciously holding the wood-chips together. *Taste: extremely bitter *Odor: odorless to farinaceous

Habitat and distribution

''P. azurescens'' occurs naturally along a small area of the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast and the Western Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the Contiguous United States, contig ...

, including in parts of Oregon and California. It has been regularly found as far south as

Depoe Bay, Oregon Depoe Bay is a city in Lincoln County, Oregon, Lincoln County, Oregon, United States, located on U.S. Route 101 in Oregon, U.S. Route 101 on the Pacific Ocean. The population was 1,398 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The bay of the ...

, and as far north as

Grays Harbor County, Washington Grays Harbor County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 75,636. Its county seat is Montesano, and its largest city is Aberdeen. Grays Harbor County is included in the Aberdeen Micropolitan ...

. Its primary locations are clustered around the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

Delta: the first type collections were made in Hammond, Oregon, near Astoria. It is also quite prevalent north of the Columbia River in Washington, from

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

north to Westport. Some feral specimens have also been reported in Stuttgart, Germany. While infrequent, the mushroom can sometimes be found around decaying wood in the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the ...

of Oregon, which decriminalized psilocybin in 2020.

Ilwaco, Washington Ilwaco ( ) is a city in Pacific County, Washington, Pacific County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 1,087 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Founded in 1890, the city was home to the Ilwaco Railway an ...

also has a large population, but harvesting is a potential misdemeanor that is enforced by local law enforcement agencies. The species' preferred environment ranges from

caespitose This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary ...

(growing in tight, separated clusters) to

gregarious Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in social groups (gregariousness) and form cooperative societies. Sociality is a survival response to evolutionary pressures. For example, when a mother was ...

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

wood-chips and/or in sandy soils rich in

lignicolous This glossary of mycology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to mycology, the study of fungi. Terms in common with other fields, if repeated here, generally focus on their mycology-specific meaning. Related terms can be found ...

(woody) debris. The mushroom has an affinity for coastal dune grasses. p. 95. In aspect it generates an extensive, dense, and tenacious mycelial mat ('' collyboid''). ''P. azurescens'' causes the whitening of wood. Fruitings begin in late September and continue until "late December and early January", according to mycologist Paul Stamets. ''Psilocybe azurescens'' has been cultivated in many countries including

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, (on Fondazione Museo Civico di Rovereto) the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and its native

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(especially in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Legal status

Possession and/or cultivation of this species is illegal in a number of countries, including in the United States under federal law. However, the states of Oregon and Colorado, as well as the cities of Seattle, Washington; Oakland, California; Santa Cruz, California; and Ann Arbor, Michigan have decriminalized possession of personal amounts of psilocybin mushrooms. It is considered a

Class A Drug The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (c. 38) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It represents action in line with treaty commitments under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the ...

in New Zealand.

Effects

References

External links