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| molecular weight of psilocybin molecular weight of psilocin | = | 284.3 204.3 | = 1.391 |
So by weight psilocin is around 1.4 times more potent. The formula for calculating total potency, ignoring [nor]baeocystin, is thus:
(psilocybin) (1.4 * psilocin) = total potency in 'psilocybin units'
Now, here's the structural diagram for psilocybin:
In the body, the phosphorus part is chopped off ("dephosphorylated") by the enzyme alkaline phosphatase, turning it into our other friend:
Psilocybin and psilocin are part of the tryptamine family (indole (C8H7N) & ethylamine side chain). They bear close resemblance to the neurotransmitter serotonin. How these substances work is, I have come to believe, still quite obscure. Primary effect seems to be the inhibition of neurotransmitter serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine aka 5-HT), i.e. a 5-HT2A post-synaptic agonist that mimics the effects to 5-HT to put it in jargon. This is the working hypothesis for LSD-25 at the moment and it's probably true for psilocybin as well. These substances also present some cross-tolerance.
As a good psychedelic should, psilocybin, psilocin and psilocybian mushrooms have low toxicity -- in tests with mice, doses up to 200 mg of psilocybin/kg of body (in average human terms (65 kg) 13 grams) have been injected intravenously without lethal effects. The ED50 : LD50 ratio is 641 according to the NIOSH Registry of Toxic Effects; compare this with 9637 for vitamin A, 4816 for LSD, 199 for aspirin and 21 for nicotine. Poisoning, at least physically, is thus not a problem.
Then we have the two other significant indole alkaloids:
Unlike psilocybin, baeocystin is somewhat unstable, and decays noticeably with age. And then we have baeocystin's close chemical cousin:
In other words, baeocystin and norbaeocystin are just psilocybin with one methyl and two methyls respectively lopped off. And unfortunately for all you synthesis experts, while baeocystin and norbaeocystin do not have DEA control numbers they do both come under the Controlled Substance Analogue Act.
When dephosphorylated, they turn into 4-hydroxy-N-methyltryptamine and 4-hydroxytryptamine. All 4 substances are presumed hallucinogenic, but less so than psilocin or psilocybin. Very little work seems to have been done on them (Chemical Abstracts averages a cite a year, with most of them of the variety "baeocystin found in Psilocybe totallyobscuralis"). There has been some speculation on the 'net about them, and a possible correlation between nausea and the amount of baeocystin has been found. We hope to be able to investigate the question further for the next version.
These are just the four "biggies".
There are also other chemicals present in mushrooms, but which and in which concentration is still very much in darkness.
The effects of psilocybin can be potentiated (made stronger) by taking them with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI). The potency is roughly doubled, according to most reports. The best known MAOIs are harmine and harmaline from the plant Peganum harmala (Syrian rue). Combining MAOIs and tryptamines is an unsafe activity; not only are there are number of substances you must avoid during use to prevent a serious hypertensive crisis, but the long-term health effects are unknown. If you wish to know more, consult the Tryptamine FAQ. Personally, I doubt it's worth the risk, if you pick or grow shrooms it's easy to get enough shrooms for a double dose.
.oOo. Psychology .oOo.
"Nature's Perfect Entheogen(TM)"
Psilocybin is juuust fine. I've tried several psychoactive drugs, including hash, LSD-25 and psilocybin. Hash usually doesn't do much - sends me into a half sleep with silly thoughts and spacey soundscape added to music... LSD doesn't do it to me either. It's probably OK if you are after low dose recreation -- partying and such... High doses -- too blunt, like a mental power tool. It cracks up open your head; Starring You and Your Brain for 12 hours. Every perception magnified thousandfold -- it's ... it's a bit too intense. !INTENSE! is the keyword. It doesn't accept any apologies or mistakes ... too harsh. I often felt like I had been immersed in some chemical, into a substance so pure and efficient it has no place in nature. Too pure. 12 hours of LSD-25 acid-bath makes you really tired... physically and mentally. But psilocybin, mm-mm, it's juuuuust fiiiine.
Voyage to the spiritworld ... visions and travels, awesome mental hallucinations. It's a direct ISDN-link to the mother earth, forgiving, gentle substance. You hear the chanting of the planet and the spirit of the mushroom. It's a product of the nature, untied to the actions of men and women roaming this planet. Your body disconnected from the circuit, you may often forget it exists. Six hours -- not too short, not too long. Perfect.
It should be noted that like all 'major' hallucinogens, psilocybin can precipitate psychotic episodes and uncover or aggravate previous mental illness. If you're stressed out or depressed, don't take mushrooms; if you have schizophrenia or something, DO NOT take mushrooms.
ACID IS NOT FOR EVERY BRAIN .... ONLY THE HEALTHY, HAPPY, WHOLESOME, HANDSOME, HOPEFUL, HUMOROUS, HIGH-VELOCITY SHOULD SEEK THESE EXPERIENCES. THIS ELITISM IS TOTALLY SELF- DETERMINED. UNLESS YOU ARE SELF-CONFIDENT, SELF-DIRECTED, SELF-SELECTED, PLEASE ABSTAIN.
--Timothy Leary, Ph.D.
I think this applies to mushrooms as well. Mushrooms and acid will open your doors of perception, and once open you can never truly close them again. They are more than a purely recreational drug.
.oOo. Legality .oOo.
Here's a list of the places we know about. Much of this is 'off the net' and may thus be more or less flawed. "Y" means it is legal, "N" means it is illegal, "?" means their status is unclear.
| Location | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | Y | ? | Y | Y | Y | Mushrooms are considered decorative plants and unless attempts to extract psilocybin are made they should remain legal. |
| Canada | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | If Bill C-7 passes possession of fresh mushrooms and cultures will become illegal. |
| Great Britain | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | A legislative quirk allows the possession of 'naturally dried' (sun-dried) shrooms. |
| The Netherlands | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | Even the sale of fresh mushrooms is legal. See "Growing Mushrooms" for addresses. |
| U.S.A. (California) | N | N | N | N | N | Spores and cultures are explicitly forbidden by CA Health & Safety Code Section 11391. |
| U.S.A. (Florida) | Y | N | Y | Y | N | Possession of fresh mushrooms if picked 'accidentally' (low quantities) is allowed. |
| U.S.A. (Oregon) | N | N | Y | Y | N | Even allowing mushrooms to grow on your property is (theoretically) illegal. |
| U.S.A. (Federal) | N | N | Y | Y | N | |
| International | Y | N | Y | Y | N | This is the United Nations standard and most nations follow it. |
| (1) Possession of fresh mushrooms. (2) Possession of dried mushrooms. (3) Possession of mushroom spores. (4) Cultures at mycelium stage. (5) Cultures at mushroom stage. | ||||||
These laws are based on a balance between the UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, which makes psilocybin and psilocin illegal, and recognition of the fact that the substances occur in nature. For each category:
- Fresh shrooms: The basic idea is that since shrooms grow in nature, it'd be silly to arrest grannies who happen to have a few growing in their backyard, or who pick them by accident. This hasn't stopped most of the US (except Florida) from banning them entirely. Of course, if you are caught with 3000 Str. cubensis, you'll have a hard time claiming you picked them by "accident".
- Dry shrooms: Usually taken as proof of intent to consume, and thus illegal. In Britain, "naturally dried" shrooms are legal, i.e. if you leave them on a windowsill by 'accident' it's OK.
- Shroom spores: Spores contain no psilocybin or psilocin and thus are not covered by regulations -- except in California.
- Cultures before shrooms appear: Same as above, usually. Advanced mycelia do contain psilocybin and psilocin. With the rice cake method you can grow until the mycelia are complete and then eat the cakes; this way you can trip without ever being in possession of shrooms.
- Cultures after shrooms appear: Clear intent to consume, and you'll probably get charged with possession with intent to sell as well. However! In some more liberal countries, such as Finland, you might be able to argue that the mushrooms were grown for decorative (ha!) or research purposes. Do not count on it.
Mushroom hunting is another issue. On public property, hunting itself is not illegal, but you're not likely to run into cows in national parks either. =) Some countries like Finland have the legal concept of "everyman's right" which allows, among other things, picking mushrooms on private property, except on fields which once again makes things tricky. In some countries like India, Thailand, Indonesia and Bli, there are no fences and there are no trespassing laws. India happens to be one giant cow pasture. Most people are friendly if they see you and always approach the picker to say hello. Unless you live in a notorious shroom zone -- some areas of Florida and South Wales come to mind -- the odds of getting hassled by farmers, much less getting caught by the police, are practically zero.
If you are caught by the cops, expect to be charged with trespassing and possession of controlled substances. Unless large quantities are involved, you will probably get by with probation and/or a fine. If caught in Florida, you can cite the state laws and have the possession charge reduced or dropped entirely.
The Entheogen Law Reporter has a publication addressing the legal aspects of Psilocybe mushrooms available by mail for $5.00.
.oOo. Botany .oOo.
.-'~~~-. .'o oOOOo`. "I am ... a mushroom :~~~-.oOo o`. On whom the dew of heaven drops now and then." `. ~-. oOOo. - John Ford `.; / ~. OO: .' ;-- `.o.' ,' ; ~~--'~ ; ; [ASCII stolen from Mescalito Ted]_;_//_
Psilocybe mushrooms are:
- kingdom Protista
- division Fungi
- class Basidiomycetes
- order Stropharia
- families Bolbitiaceae, Coprinaceae, Cortinariaceae, Pluteaceae, and Strophariaceae
- order Stropharia
- class Basidiomycetes
- division Fungi
- basidiomycotina or -mycetes -- Fungi that produce spores on stalks outside the terminal cells.
- agaricales -- mushrooms with cap & gills;
Commonly used species:
- Panaeolus subbalteatus
- Psilocybe azurescens, baeocystis, caerulescens, cubensis, cyanescens, mexicana, pelliculosa, semilanceata, stuntzii
- Copelandia cyanescens,cambodgeniensis
Uncommonly used species [mostly stolen from the Tryptamine FAQ]:
- Agrocybe farinacea
- Conocybe cyanopus, kuehneriana (*), siligineoides (?), smithii
- Copelandia anomala, bispora, cyanescens, tropicalis
- Galerina steglichii
- Gymnopilus aeruginosus, liquiritiae, luteus, purpuratus, spectabilis, validipes, viridans
- Inocybe aeruginascens, coelestium, corydalna, haemacta, tricolor
- Panaeolus ater, firmicola, olivaceus, papilionaceus, retirugis
- Pluteus atricapillus ( nigroviridis, salicinus
| (*) | Contains only psilocin. |
| ( | Contains only psilocybin. |
| (?) | Contains unidentified tryptamines (probably psilocin/psilocybin). |
Inclusion on this list does not mean the psilocin/psilocybin content is sufficient for psychotropic activity in practical amounts, for example one would need to eat around a thousand Pluteus atricapillus to get off.
The following species of the genus Amanita contain not psilocin/psilocybin but bufotenine, muscimol, inotenic acid and similar nasties:
- Amanita citrina, formosa, mappa, muscaria (*), pantherina, porphyria, regalis, tomentella
| (*) | The famed "Fly Agaric" red toadstool with white warts. |
Mushrooms from the Amanita family cause 95 f all deaths from mushroom poisoning. The ones above are not immediately deadly, the danger lies in correct identification. Death by Amanita poisoning is reportedly an excruciating way to die, since they nuke your liver and the body's own wastes then kill you. Worse yet, the effects only start 3 days after ingestion, and by then it's too late. I would seriously recommend against toying with these; most reports say they're not even fun. Also, Chlorophyllum molybdites (a.k.a. "green gills" and/or "Morgan's Lepiota") is a toxic mushroom. Its gills turn green with age. It grows in pastures and in manured soil in lawns and meadow. According to Steven Peele of Florida, it is commonly mistaken for Psilocybe cubensis, especially in the Gainsville region of Florida and accounts for over 90 f all mushroom poisoning cases in that state. It sometimes macroscopically resembles and/or mimics Psilocybe cubensis.
.oOo. Mushroom Guide .oOo.
.oO Warning Oo.
"Expert shroomers really know their shit."
--cowboy@jax-inter.net
A printout of this part of the text should provide an adequate check-list for mushrooms in the field, but a good mushroom book with color pictures of the mushrooms, preferably at all 4 stages of growth, is invaluable.
For exhaustingly exhaustive and thoroughly technical descriptions of most Psilocybes, the reader is referred to Hřiland: Norw. J. Botany 25(2), 111-122; Allen, 1997; Allen & Merlin, 1992; Guzman, Allen & Gartz, 1999; Guzman, 1995; Ott, 1993, and Stamets, 1996. These authors along with a dozen lesser references, were primary sources in compiling this.
To check the spore color, take two caps, place one on a sheet of white and one on a black paper, or on a glass plate if you plan to use microscope. Place in a draftless place and wait for 6 to 24 hours. The dust-like stuff on the sheet is the spores. Compare the two papers. For size, you'll need a good microscope... =)
The standard identifying mark of most Psilocybes is that they stain blue when touched or cut; unless specifically noted otherwise, assume all mushrooms listed here do. Mind you, this blueing alone is not sufficient for identification as a non-poisonous and hallucinogenic mushroom!
It is strongly recommended that for the first few hunts you go out with a friend who has hunted before and knows what they look like. There are four species of deadly mushrooms which do resemble several species of Psilocybe. These four deadly shrooms are Galerina autumnalis, Galerina marginata, Galerina venenata and Conocybe filaris. These four species all contain the same amatoxins found in the deadly Amanita species and they sometimes can be found growing right alongside or even underneath a patch of P. stuntzii (See Stamets' book for comparison photographs). They all macroscopically resemble Psilocybe stunzii, Psilocybe fimetaria and Psilocybe cyanescens. In 1982 a 16-year-old teenage girl and two male companions became deadly ill after consuming some Galerina species which they thought were Psilocybes. The youths were ill for three days before reporting their illness to the hospital. The girl died. So Beware.
Dosage Note
The medium adult oral dose, according to Hofmann, is 4-8 mg of psilocybin. Thus, you can estimate doses from the mg/g psilocybin figures found in technical literature. Data for "
ry weight" is the same as centigrams per gram, so just multiply by 10 to get the mg/g figure.
Whenever possible, dosages in both shrooms and grams of fresh material have been given. As a rule of thumb, for dried shrooms multiply the dosage in shrooms by two. There is no reliable way of converting weight in grams from fresh to dry, mushrooms contain approximately 90 ater (ie. 10 grams wet = 1 gram dry) but the figure varies from species to species.
The amount of psilocybin varies very considerably from mushroom to mushroom, depending on factors like age, growing conditions, etc. The variation is up to 4x for mushrooms grown in controlled laboratory conditions, and as much as 10x for ones that are not! With a new batch, always start out low. When reading the data, remember that psilocybin is almost equal in strength to psilocin.
Shroom descriptions in alphabetical order
It should be kept in mind that mushrooms change appearance as they age and often have different coloration in different regions.
These descriptions, formatted nicely so that you can print them out as a booklet and take it with you when cow-hunting, are now available separately as the "Psilocybe FAQ Mushroom Field Guide". Available at all well-stocked FTP sites! Or make your own: cut out this section, search-and-replace "*" with "
| Quick Vocabulary | |
|---|---|
| adnate | Gills that are fully attached to the stem |
| adnexed | Gills that are partially attached to the stem |
| apex | Top part of stem (i.e. where it's attached to the cap) |
| concave | Cap that curves "inward" (like the inside of a sphere) |
| convex | Cap that curves "outward" (like the outside of a sphere) |
| evanescent | Describes a quickly-disappearing veil |
| fibrillose | Stem that seems to be made of fibers packed together |
| fissure | Crack or cleft in cap or gills |
| HD | "High dose" |
| hygrophilous | Absorbs water easily |
| hygrophanous | Becomes translucent when wet |
| LD | "Low dose" |
| MD | "Medium dose" |
| mg/g | Milligrams of substance per gram of dried mushroom |
| N/A | Not applicable or not available |
| seceding | Gills that are detaching/detached from the stem |
| umbonate | Cap that is shaped like a knob |
| viscid | Cap covered with a sticky coating |
| And remember, if you think learning these is toohard, try reading Singer & Smith. "Stipe tubular, more rarelysubequal, discolors to reddish cinerous, strongly sulcate at apex,glabrous to fibrillose..." | |
Conocybe cyanopus
a.k.a. Pholiotina cyanopoda
| A small and uncommon but relatively strongmushroom, often found on lawns. Found in the northern parts of theU.S., Canada and northern Europe. | ||
| CAP | diameter | 0.7 - 2.5 centimeters |
| color | rusty/dark brown to black | |
| appearance | convex, nearly hemispherical, slightly expanding, slightlywrinkled at edges | |
| STEM | diameter | 1 - 1.5 millimeters |
| length | 2 - 4 centimeters | |
| color | white or slightly grayish | |
| appearance | silky, striated | |
| GILLS | form | not crowded |
| color | dull rust brown, white edges | |
| SPORES | color | dull rust brown |
| size | 6.5 - 7.5 x 4.5 - 5.0 x 4.5 - 5.0 micrometers | |
| shape | ellipsoid, distinct germ-pore | |
| DOSAGE | fresh grams | 7 (LD), 9 (MD), 11 (HD) (approx. 75-100 fresh small mushroomsor 1-2 grams dried) |
| mg/g psilocybin | 9.30 - 4.50 | |
| mg/g psilocin | 0.70 - 0.00 | |
| mg/g baeocystin | 0.30 - 1.00 | |
Conocybe smithii
| This tiny mushroom is scattered among mosses inswamps, boggy areas and ditches. Found in the northern parts of theU.S. and Canada. | ||
| CAP | diameter | 0.3 - 1.3 centimeters |
| color | ochre/cinnamon brown, darker at edges | |
| appearance | sharply conical but expands with age, glistens when wet,hygrophanous | |
| STEM | diameter | 0.75 - 1.00 millimeters |
| length | 1 - 7 centimeters | |
| color | pure white | |
| appearance | fragile, slightly swollen at base | |
| GILLS | form | crowded, broad |
| color | ochre/cinnamon brown | |
| SPORES | color | rust cinnamon brown |
| size | 7.0 - 9.0 x 4.0 - 4.5 x 4.0 - 4.5 micrometers | |
| shape | ellipsoid, small but distinct germ-pore | |
| DOSAGE | fresh grams | 7 (LD), 9 (MD), 11 (HD) (approx. 75-100 fresh small mushroomsor 1-2 grams dried) |
| mg/g psilocybin | N/A | |
| mg/g psilocin | N/A | |
| mg/g baeocystin | 0.40 - 0.80 | |
Galera cyanopes
see: Conocybe smithii
Panaeolina foenisecii
a.k.a. Psilocybe foenisecii, Psathyrella foenisecii,"Mower's mushroom", previously Panaeolus foenisecii
| A very popular mushroom on lawns, grasses andcattle fields of all kind. Unlike other Panaeolus species itdoes not grow on dung! Grows from midsummer to first signs ofwinter. This one's everywhere!!! | ||
| CAP | diameter | 1 - 3 centimeters |
| color | light brown to dark brown; dries to yellow-brown | |
| appearance | broad, bluntly conical to bell-shaped, expanding to convex,broadly umbonate, or nearly plant; surface smooth or cracking intoscales in dry weather; hygrophanous but not viscid; chestnut-brown todark brown or cinnamon brown when moist fades as it dries to dingy buffor tan, often with darker marginal band when partially dru; flesh thinand fragile | |
| STEM | diameter | 2 - 3 millimeters |
| length | 4 - 10 centimeters | |
| color | paler than cap | |
| appearance | constant diameter, sometimes with enlarged base, fragile,more or less smooth, white to dingy brownish, often becoming brown fromthe base upward | |
| GILLS | form | adnate to adnexed or seceding, fairly close |
| color | brown to deep/grayish/chocolate brown, faces often mottledand edges paler or whitish | |
| SPORES | color | violet brown |
| size | 12 - 17 x 7 - 9 x 7 - 9 micrometers | |
| shape | lemon shaped, large sprouter | |
| DOSAGE | fresh grams | N/A (LD), N/A (MD), N/A (HD) |
| mg/g psilocybin | 0.30 | |
| mg/g psilocin | 0.00 | |
| mg/g baeocystin | N/A | |
| OTHER | Often found with other Panaeolus species. "Mini-model" of Pa. subbalteatus. This species is not psychoactive, no matter who reported it asso. It was mistakenly identified as psychoactive in a 1990 High Timesarticle by Brolyn. See Allen and Merlin, 1992 for complete research onthe effect of this species and its alleged poisoning in three youngchildren and some adults. | |
Panaeolus acuminatus
a.k.a. Panaeolus rickenii
| Grows in horse pastures and rarely on horsemanure. From midsummer to the borders of winter. This fragile shroom isquite popular in Scandinavia and northern Europe. | ||
| CAP | diameter | 1 - 2 centimeters |
| color | dark brown/black when wet, dark grey when dry, light brownfrom the center | |
| appearance | cone-shaped, hygrophilous | |
| STEM | diameter | 1 - 3 millimeters |
| length | 5 - 12 centimeters | |
| color | greyish | |
| appearance | N/A | |
| GILLS | form | crowded together |
| color | grey to black, white tips | |
| SPORES | color | violet brown |
| size | 12 - 16 x 8 - 11 x 8 - 11 micrometers | |
| shape | lemon shaped | |
| DOSAGE | mushrooms | 40 (LD), 100 (MD), 150 (HD) |
| mg/g psilocybin | N/A | |
| mg/g psilocin | N/A | |
| mg/g baeocystin | N/A | |
| OTHER | Makes a good strawberry milkshake! | |
Panaeolus ater
| Fruits in forest clearings and cow pastures fromspring to fall. | ||
| CAP | diameter | 1 - 2 centimeters |
| color | dark brown when wet, pale yellow-brown when dry | |
| appearance | bell-shaped, spreads until hemispherical, smooth,hygrophilous. | |
| STEM | diameter | 1 - 3 millimeters |
| length | 3 - 7 centimeters | |
| color | paler from tip, darker from bottom | |
| appearance | N/A | |
| GILLS | form | narrowly attached |
| color | first dark grey then black | |
| SPORES | color | N/A |
| size | 9 - 14 x 6 - 7.5 x 6 - 7.5 micrometers | |
| shape | lemon shaped | |
| DOSAGE | fresh grams | N/A (LD), N/A (MD), N/A (HD) |
| mg/g psilocybin | N/A | |
| mg/g psilocin | N/A | |
| mg/g baeocystin | N/A | |
Panaeolus campanulatus
| Grows in cattle pastures and especially on horsemanure, from midsummer to fall. | ||
| CAP | diameter | 2 - 4 centimeters |
| color | brown/gray/olive gray when fresh, reddish-brown and palerolive/tan/buff when drier | |
| appearance | bluntly conical or bell-shaped, expands very little with age;surface not viscid, often shiny when dry, smooth or finely wrinkled oroften cracking to form scales (especially in sunlight); margin hungwith small, white, toothlike veil remnants, at least when young; fleshthin and fragile | |
| STEM | diameter | 1 - 3 millimeters |
| length | 5 - 15 centimeters | |
| color | grey or greyish brown | |
| appearance | equal or thicker at apex, brittle or fragile, slightlypowdered | |
| GILLS | form | adnate or adnexed but often seceding, fairly close |
| color | first grey, blacken with age; edges whitish | |
| SPORES | color | black |
| size | 13 - 18 x 7 - 12 x 7 - 12 micrometers | |
| shape | elliptical and smooth | |
| DOSAGE | mushrooms | N/A (LD), N/A (MD), N/A (HD) |
| mg/g psilocybin | N/A | |
| mg/g psilocin | N/A | |
| mg/g baeocystin | N/A | |
| OTHER | Psilocybin content evidently varies, some peoplehave eaten over 100 of these with no effects. | |
Panaeolus foenisecii
see: Panaeolina foenisecii
Panaeolus rickenii
see: Panaeolus acuminatus
Panaeolus sphinctrinus
| Grows on manure of all kind, from summer to fall. | ||
| CAP | diameter | 1 - 4 centimeters |
| color | grey to greyish brown, paler when dry | |
| appearance | bell-shaped, usually smooth but sometimes bumpy, nothygrophilous, white scales on the edge | |
| STEM | diameter | 1 - 3 millimeters |
| length | 5 - 12 centimeters | |
| color | grey, paler from tip | |
| appearance | erect, powdery | |
| GILLS | form | adnate |
| color | grey brown/black, white tips, veil remnants | |
| SPORES | color | N/A |
| size | 14 - 18 x 8 - 12 x 8 - 12 micrometers | |
| shape | lemon shaped, with germ-pore | |
| DOSAGE | mushrooms | N/A (LD), 200 (MD), N/A (HD) |
| mg/g psilocybin | 1.90 | |
| mg/g psilocin | N/A | |
| mg/g baeocystin | N/A | |
Panaeolus subbalteatus
| Widespread, found in temperate zones includingCanada, the northern parts of the U.S. and northern Europe. Grows ongrasses, lawns, pastures, roadsides; prefers fertilized or manuredsoil. Grows in the spring and fall. | ||
| CAP | diameter | 2 - 6 centimeters |
| color | variable; brown to reddish/cinnamon brown when moist, fadingas it dries to tan/buff/whitish, margin often stays darker when dry | |
| appearance | broad, convex or bluntly conical, becoming broadly convex tobroadly unbonate to plane or with an uplifted margin; surface smooth orwrinkled, in age sometimes breaking into scales (fissured), not viscid;flesh thin, brownish | |
| STEM | diameter | 3 - 5 millimeters |
| length | 5 - 10 centimeters | |
| color | brown to reddish-brown, often dusted by spores | |
| appearance | equal or tapered at either end, hollow but not fragile;usually longitudinally striated throughout | |
| GILLS | form | adnate to adnexed or seceding, close, broad |
| color | pale watery brown or reddish brown, darkens gradually toblack; edges whitish, faces mottled | |
| SPORES | color | jet black |
| size | 11 - 14 x 7 - 9 x 6 - 8 micrometers | |
| shape | lens-shaped, with germ pore | |
| DOSAGE | fresh grams | 30 (LD), 60 (MD), 100 (HD) |
| mushrooms | 5-10 (LD), 20-40 (MD), 60-90 (HD) | |
| mg/g psilocybin | 1.50 - 6.00 | |
| mg/g psilocin | 0.00 | |
| mg/g baeocystin | 0.01-0.05 | |
| OTHER | Often forms tufts of 2-4 fruitbodies. There are several distinct subtypes of Panaeolus subbalteatus, thisis the most common one. Pa. subbalteatus bears some resemblence to the inactive Panaeolina foenisecii and can be differentiated by spore print color. | |
Psathyra pelliculosa
see: Psilocybe semilanceata
Psilocybe aerugineomaculans
see: Psilocybe subaeruginascens
Psilocybe atrorufa
see: Psilocybe montana
Psilocybe aztecorum
| Found only around Paso de Cortés andPuebla, Mexico, between 3300 and 3700 m elevation. Found in smallclusters in open pine woods, fruits in September only. | ||
| CAP | diameter | 1.5 - 2.5 centimeters |
| color | milk white to yellowish | |
| appearance | starts obtuse to subumbonate, expands to broadly conical;edge of cap may become cracked | |
| STEM | diameter | 0.2 - 0.4 centimeters |
| length | 3.0 - 6.0 centimeters | |
| color | whitish, possibly with gray discolored portions | |
| appearance | fibrous, veil remnants may be visible | |
| GILLS | form | closely spaced, broad |
| color | deep purple brown, pallid/whitish edges | |
| SPORES | color | dark dull ochre brown |
| size | 11 - 14 x 5 - 8 x 5 - 8 micrometers | |
| shape | elongated ellipsoid, with germ-pore | |
| DOSAGE | mushrooms | 2-3 (LD), 4-10 (MD), 20-40 (HD) |
| mg/g psilocybin | N/A | |
| mg/g psilocin | N/A | |
| mg/g baeocystin | N/A | |
| OTHER | Ps. aztecorum resembles Ps. mexicanato some degree and was originally thought to be a variant (var.Longispora). Dosage has been estimated on the assumption that they areequally potent; it is known to be a hallucinogen. Ps. aztecorum was among the seven varieties of "magicmushroom" found by Wasson in Mexico in 1955. | |
Psilocybe baeocystis
| Can be found growing on ground bark, wood chips,peat moss and sometimes on lawns. Common on campuses. This popularmushroom appears from fall through midsummer in large clumps. Prevalentthroughout the Pacific Northwest. Fruits prolifically from fall throughwinter. | ||
| CAP | diameter | 1.4 - 5.4 centimeters |
| color | olive brown to buffy brown, greenish if touched | |
| appearance | edge of cap undulates like a bottle cap or umbrella, a brownspot appears in the center of the cap after drying | |
| STEM | diameter | 2.0 - 3.0 millimeters |
| length | 5.0 - 7.0 centimeters | |
| color | white except for yellowish apex | |
| appearance | often characterized by twisting bends | |
| GILLS | form | relatively closed spaced |
| color | dark cinnamon or gray | |
| SPORES | color | gray |
| size | 10 - 13 x 6 - 7 x 6 - 7 micrometers | |
| shape | cylindrical with tapered corners | |
| DOSAGE | fresh grams | N/A (LD), N/A (MD), N/A (HD) |
| mg/g psilocybin | 1.50-8.50 | |
| mg/g psilocin | 0.50-5.90 | |
| mg/g baeocystin | 0.10-1.00 | |
| OTHER | As the name indicates, it has a higher percentageof baeocystin than other psilocybe mushrooms, however the effects ofbaeocystin are not thought to be significantly different than those ofpsilocybin and/or psilocin. This is the only common Psilocybe for which a fatality, a7-year-old boy, is known. | |
Psilocybe caerulescens
a.k.a. Psilocybe mazatecorum, "Durrumbe," "Landslide"mushroom
| Found throughout the southern United States, fromCalifornia to Louisiana and South Carolina to Florida; a Mexicanvariety called Ps. caerulescens mazatecorum exists. Evidentlyunknown elsewhere. Grows on the banks of rivers and streams in thesummer during rainy season. | ||
| CAP | diameter | 2.0 - 8.8 centimeters |
| color | deep green to black, fades with age | |
| appearance | cone-shaped when young, expands to convex/flat (neverbowl-shaped), smooth and sticky, no nipple, margin of caplighter/darker than center | |
| STEM | diameter | 0.2 - 1.0 centimeters |
| length | 4.0 - 12.2 centimeters | |
| color | glassy-white to grayish | |
| appearance | even, hollow, smooth, tough, covered w/hairs, possiblyremnants of evanescent veil | |
| GILLS | form | closely spaced |
| color | light gray to dark brown/black as it ages | |
| SPORES | color | deep purple brown |
| size | 6 - 8 x 5 - 6 x 4 - 5 micrometers | |
| shape | elliptic to inequilateral, broad germ pore | |
| DOSAGE | mushrooms | 2-3 (LD), 4-10 (MD), 20-40 (HD) |
| mg/g psilocybin | N/A | |
| mg/g psilocin | N/A | |
| mg/g baeocystin | N/A | |
| OTHER | The dosage is an estimate; the mushroom is saidto be roughly equivalent to Ps. cubensis. Ps. caerulescens was first collected by Schultes and Reko in1938 for herbarium deposit. It was also among the seven varieties of"magic mushroom" collected by Wasson in Mexico in 1955. Two varieties of Ps. caerulescens were among the seven types of"magic mushroom" found by Wasson in Mexico in 1955. | |
Psilocybe cubensis
a.k.a. Naematoloma caerulescens, "San Isidro", previously Strophariacubensis, Stropharia cyanescens, Stropharia caerulescens
| Found throughout the southern United States, fromCalifornia to Louisiana and South Carolina to Florida, as well as mostof Central and South America, and parts of southeast Asia. Arrived tothe Americas with Spanish Brahma cattle from the Philippine Islands.Grows on cow manure or manure-fertilized soil. | ||
| CAP | diameter | 1.6-8.0 centimeters |
| color | pure white to light brown, translucent when wet | |
| appearance | starts conical, gradually inverts to convex, then to flat andfinally bowl-shaped; has a gold center spot; covered by stickyprotective film; flesh firm and white; margin sometimes hung with veilremnants | |
| STEM | diameter | 0.4-1.4 centimeters |
| length | 4.0 - 15.0 centimeters | |
| color | white or bluish-stained | |
| appearance | membranous, usually forms a thin fragile ring on stalk whichis blackened by falling spores | |
| GILLS | form | closely spaced, initially attached to stem but may separatewith age |
| color | light brown/gray to deep purple/black, edges whitish | |
| SPORES | color | dark brown to blackish |
| size | 12 - 17 x 8 - 12 x 7 - 9 micrometers | |
| shape | smooth, nearly elliptic, with germ-pore | |
| DOSAGE | mushrooms | 2-3 (LD), 4-10 (MD), 20-30 (HD) |
| dried grams | 1-2 (LD), 3-5 (MD), 10-15 (HD) | |
| mg/g psilocybin | 4.00 - 12.0 | |
| mg/g psilocin | 0.00 - 1.00 | |
| mg/g baeocystin | 0.00 - 0.20 | |
| OTHER | Ps. cubensis is common in the Americas andis the most widely cultivated Psilocybian mushrooms. It was the first variety of Mexican "magic mushroom" collected bywestern mycologists. Schultes and Reko gathered specimens in 1938 forherbarium deposit. It was also among the seven varieties of "magicmushroom" collected by Wasson in Mexico in 1955. Ps. cubensis variety cyanescens, found in Florida,is a sort of albino Str. cub. with very little pigment in thecap. Ps. cubensis variety caerulescens, found inIndochina, has cap colored clear yellow in some places. | |
Psilocybe cyanescens
a.k.a. "Wavy Caps," "Blue Halos"
| Doesn't grow on dung, but on hardwoods andwoodchips. Inhabits landscaped yards containing ground bark and dwellsunder Douglas fir or cedar and in mulched rhododendron beds. Fruitsprolifically from fall through winter in the Pacific Northwest, alsofound in England. | ||
| CAP | diameter | 1.5 - 4.0 centimeters |
| color | chestnut brown, lightens to yellowish with age | |
| appearance | broad and conves, expands with age to plane or marginuplifted, viscid when moist, margin of cap often stained blue (hencethe nickname) | |
| STEM | diameter | 2.5 - 6.0 millimeters |
| length | 3.0 - 8.0 centimeters | |
| color | dry whitish | |
| appearance | silky, fibrous, base enlarged and often curved | |
| GILLS | form | typically adneted, sometimes seceding; fairly closely spaced;veil remnants may form tiny ring |
| color | cinnamon color becomes dark brown, edges paler | |
| SPORES | color | purple-brown/ purple-gray/ purple-black |
| size | 9 - 12 x 6 - 8 x 5 - 8 micrometers | |
| shape | nearly elliptic, smooth, broad germ pore | |
| DOSAGE | dried grams | N/A (LD), 2-2.5 (MD), N/A (HD) |
| mushrooms | 1-2 (LD), 3-4 (MD), 5 (HD) | |
| mg/g psilocybin | 3.20-16.8 | |
| mg/g psilocin | 2.00-5.10 | |
| mg/g baeocystin | 0.10-0.50 | |
| OTHER | Generally grows in clusters. The most potent Psilocybe mushroom known. | |
Psilocybe mexicana
| Found only in Southern Mexico and Guatemala.Grows from May to October in the zone between tropical and temperateclimates (1500-1800 meters), in open fields or meadows but never dung. | ||
| CAP | diameter | 0.5 - 3.3 centimeters |
| color | deep ochre to ochre brown | |
| appearance | starts conical, gradually inverts to convex, then flat andfinally bowl-shaped; has a central "nipple" | |
| STEM | diameter | 0.1 - 0.3 centimeters |
| length | 2.0 - 8.0 centimeters | |
| color | ochre, usually paler than cap | |
| appearance | hollow | |
| GILLS | form | closely to medium spaced |
| color | pale gray, whitish edges | |
| SPORES | color | deep sepia to dark purple brown |
| size | 9 - 11 x 7 - 8 x 5 - 7 micrometers | |
| shape | compressed, elliptic/rhombic, with germ-pore | |
| DOSAGE | mushrooms | 2-3 (LD), 4-10 (MD), 20-40 (HD) |
| mg/g psilocybin | N/A | |
| mg/g psilocin | N/A | |
| mg/g baeocystin | N/A | |
| OTHER | Ps. mexicana always grows solitary, butthere are usually many others near each fruitbody. Ps. mexicana was among the seven varieties of "magicmushroom" found by Wasson in Mexico in 1955. | |
Psilocybe montana
a.k.a. Psilocybe atrorufa
| Grows in low moss on sandy land, roadsides etc.From summer to fall, sometimes in spring, quite popular. | ||
| CAP | diameter | 0.5 - 2 centimeters |
| color | red-brown, paler when dry | |
| appearance | hemispherical, sticky when wet | |
| STEM | diameter | 1 - 2 millimeters |
| length | 1 - 4 centimeters | |
| color | light brown | |
| appearance | crumbles easily | |
| GILLS | form | widely spaced |
| color | first light brown, become purple-brown with age | |
| SPORES | color | N/A |
| size | 6 - 9 x 5 - 6 x 4 - 5 micrometers | |
| shape | oval shaped | |
| DOSAGE | mushrooms | 40 (LD), 100 (MD), 200 (HD) |
| fresh grams | 5 (LD), 15 (MD), 30 (HD) | |
| mg/g psilocybin | 0.0 (?) | |
| mg/g psilocin | 0.0 (?) | |
| mg/g baeocystin | N/A | |
| OTHER | Despite reports of the psychoactivity of Ps.montana, chemical studies have found no psychoactive compounds.Both John W. Allen and Paul Stamets report that it is inactive. | |
Psilocybe pelliculosa
Psilocybe semilanceata
a.k.a. "Liberty Cap"
| Found in northern temperate zone throughout theworld. Grows inland up to a thousand miles (1500 km) from the ocean.Northwestern U.S, Scandinavia, the British Isles and western Europe.Very popular in Norway and other parts of Scandinavia. Fruits ingrasses and cow pastures, parks and roadsides in the fall. | ||
| CAP | diameter | 5 - 10 millimeters |
| color | brown, drying to yellowish brown | |
| appearance | sharply conical, small "nipple" on top, never expands,incurved, striated margin, sticky when wet | |
| STEM | diameter | 2 - 3 millimeters |
| length | 6 - 10 centimeters | |
| color | pallid to yellowish or brown, darkens with age, does notbruise blue | |
| appearance | wavy and tough, fibrilliose, veil absent or rudimentary,small dark ring may be present | |
| GILLS | form | adnate or adnexed, slant upwards to almost vertical |
| color | first pale, soon becomes purplish brown | |
| SPORES | color | brown |
| size | 12 - 16 x 7 - 9 x 7 - 9 micrometers | |
| shape | ellipsoid, with germ-pore | |
| DOSAGE | mushrooms | 5-10 (LD), 20-40 (MD), 60-90 (HD) |
| mg/g psilocybin | 10.0 - 11.0 | |
| mg/g psilocin | 0.00 | |
| mg/g baeocystin | 0.90-3.40 | |
| OTHER | Ps. pelliculosa is actually a separatespecies, but the two are indistinguishable to the naked eye. It growsin sawdust or wood chip piles in forests where lumberjacks have beenworking. The two can be distinguished by spore size, with Ps.pelliculosa spores being smaller at 9-13 x 5-7 x 5-7 micrometers. Ps.pelli. is also weaker in potency, having only 1.2-7.1 mg/g and0.0-0.5 mg/g psilocybin and baeocystin respectively. Ps. semil. contains more baeocystin than most other Psilocybes,which may account for the subjective difference in quality. | |
Psilocybe stuntzii
a.k.a. Psilocybe pugetensis
| Range extends from Bandon Oregon to BritishColumbia. Found on lawns, in fields and on woodchips (alder) or barkmulch; originally identified growing on the U of Washington campus!Fruits from August to December. | ||
| CAP | diameter | 0.5 - 3.5 centimeters |
| color | variable; deep olive-brown to chestnut brown if young, fadingto dingy yellow-brown or yelloish buff; margin often tinged greenish | |
| appearance | bluntly conical becoming convex to broadly umbonate, plane,or with upliften margin; viscid when moist; margin striate when moist | |
| STEM | diameter | 1.5 - 4.0 millimeters |
| length | 2.0 - 7.0 centimeters | |
| color | white to ochraceous brown | |
| appearance | becomes hollow with age, equal or thicker at either end,often curved, not viscid, veil may form fragile ring or fibrillose zone | |
| GILLS | form | adnate or adnexed, narrow, close to well spaced |
| color | chocolate brown to violet/black, whitish edges | |
| SPORES | color | deep violet to dark purple |
| size | 8 - 12 x 6 - 7 x 6 - 7 micrometers | |
| shape | not quite elliptic, with germ-pore | |
| DOSAGE | fresh grams | N/A (LD), N/A (MD), N/A (HD) |
| mg/g psilocybin | 3.6 - 0.4 | |
| mg/g psilocin | 0.1 - 0.6 | |
| mg/g baeocystin | 0.0 - 0.2 | |
| OTHER | This mushroom is quite similar to Ps.cyanescens, Ps. venenata and Ps. subaeruginascens;however, the latter two do not grow in Northern America. There are alsosome poisonous Galerina species that resemble Ps. stuntzii,so be careful. The Galerinas grow in forested areas, not lawnsand fields. Ps. stuntzii can grow either in clusters or solitary. Ps. stuntzii was named in honor of mycologist DanielStuntz of the University of Washington. The name Ps. pugetensiswas used by Bob Harris in "Growing Wild Mushrooms", but is invalid. | |
Psilocybe subaeruginosa
| Found throughout Australia and regions nearby. Grows in disturbed habitats on small pieces of wood debris, commonly in gardens on mulches of pinus radiata bark or native Australian hardwoods. | ||
| CAP | diameter | up to 5 centimeters |
| color | "biscuit brown," darker when wet | |
| appearance | conical with inturned edge when young, becomes convex whenolder | |
| STEM | diameter | relatively thin |
| length | up to 10 centimeters | |
| color | white with occasional grey/blue/green blotches | |
| appearance | conical with inturned edge when young, becomes convex witholder | |
| GILLS | form | closely spaced, may be attached to stem |
| color | smoky brown/black | |
| SPORES | color | purplish brown |
| size | 9.5-15 x 6 - 8 x 5.5-7 micrometers | |
| shape | ellipsoid, with germ-pore | |
| DOSAGE | mushrooms | 1-4 (LD), 5-8 (MD), 9-14(HD) |
| mg/g psilocybin | N/A | |
| mg/g psilocin | N/A | |
| mg/g baeocystin | N/A | |
| OTHER | ||
Psilocybe subaeruginascens
a.k.a. Psilocybe aerugineomaculans
| Found in some parts of Asia, at least northernJapan and Java, Indonesia. Usually found on horse manure but evidentlygrows on rotten wood as well. | ||
| CAP | diameter | 1.5-2.5 centimeters |
| color | whitish with smoke-brown center | |
| appearance | flat to convex, glabrous and smooth | |
| STEM | diameter | 1.5-3.0 millimeters |
| length | 3.0-4.0 centimeters | |
| color | white | |
| appearance | traces of veil may remain as a small ring | |
| GILLS | form | widely spaced |
| color | grayish brown, edges paler | |
| SPORES | color | violet brown |
| size | 8 - 10 x 7 - 7 x 6 - 7 micrometers | |
| shape | ellipsoid, with germ-pore | |
| DOSAGE | fresh grams | N/A (LD), N/A (MD), N/A (HD) |
| mg/g psilocybin | N/A | |
| mg/g psilocin | N/A | |
| mg/g baeocystin | N/A | |
| OTHER | Moderately potent. There was an attempt toerroneously combine this species with Ps. venenata. | |
Psilocybe venenata
a.k.a. Stropharia venenata, "false deadly Psilocybe","bamboo Psilocybe"
Psilocybe zapotecorum
a.k.a. "Mbey San," "Piule de Barda"
| Found only in Oaxaca, Mexico. Grows primarily onsoil in swamps. | ||
| CAP | diameter | 6.0-11.0 centimeters |
| color | ochre yellow to brown/purple/black | |
| appearance | bell-shaped, becomes breast-shaped; always twisted andasymmetric in shape | |
| STEM | diameter | 1.0-2.0 centimeters |
| length | 10.0 - 20.0 centimeters | |
| color | brownish (inside of stem lighter or white) | |
| appearance | very fibrous, elastic, often twisted, hollow | |
| GILLS | form | rather closely spaced, not very broad |
| color | violet-purple | |
| SPORES | color | brown purple |
| size | 6 - 9 x 4 - 5 x 3 - 4 micrometers | |
| shape | compressed ellipsoid, with germ-pore | |
| DOSAGE | mushrooms | N/A (LD), N/A (MD), N/A (HD) |
| mg/g psilocybin | N/A | |
| mg/g psilocin | N/A | |
| mg/g baeocystin | N/A | |
| OTHER | Ps. zapotecorum is used as a hallucinogenby Chatino and Zapotec Indians. Ps. zapotecorum was among the seven varieties of "magicmushroom" found by Wasson in Mexico in 1955. | |
Stropharia cubensis
see: Psilocybe cubensis
While some European mycologists still refer to this species as Strophariacubensis Earle, most mycologists now use Psilocybe cubensis(Earle) Singer, the name given it by American mycologist Rolf Singer.Other psychoactive species
Here is a brief list of dosage information on some other mushrooms.Some Psilocybes that are known to contain no psilocybin/psilocin areincluded. Descriptions have been purposely omitted, since I don't haveenough info for a full-scale description like the ones above; if youare interested, look them up in a guide.
| Genus species | Shrooms fresh | Grams fresh | Psilocybin mg/g dry | Psilocin mg/g dry | Baeocystis mg/g dry | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GYMNOPILUS purpuratus | --- | --- | 1.0-3.4 | 1.0-3.1 | 0.1-0.5 | --- |
| INOCYBE aeruginascens | --- | --- | 4.0 | 0.0 | 2.1 | --- |
| PANAEOLUS olivaceus | --- | --- | 0.05 | 0.0 | --- | --- |
| PLUTEUS atricapillus salicinus | --- --- | --- --- | 0.05 2.1-3.0 | 0.0 0.0-0.5 | --- --- | --- --- |
| PSILOCYBE bohemica coprophila | --- 50-200 | --- 15-100 | 8.5-9.3 0.0 | --- 0.0 | --- --- | --- 3 |
Notes:
- Has poisonous lookalikes.
- Very similar to Ps. semilanceata.
- No psilocybin or psilocin detected chemically despite reports ofsuccessful use as a hallucinogen.
.oOo. Mushroom Resources .oOo.
Companies in the Real World
Warning: Some of these are probably fly-by-night companies that may already have disappeared, so be careful. All addresses are in the USA unless otherwise noted.
| Sells fresh mushrooms (F25/oz), growing kits, spore prints (Str. cubensis, Ps. cyanescens), and live cultures. | |
| The DoorWay P.O. Box 12553 Ogden, UT 84412-2553 E-Mail: MELBARBARI@cc.weber.edu | Sells lots of books and a shroom kit. Send $1 for catalog. |
| Fane of the Psilocybe Mushroom Association Station "E" Victoria, B.C. V8W 2W3 Canada | Also known as "The Fane", send $1 for a membership form. Issues of their publication "The Sporeprint" cost $5. |
| Florida Mycology Research Center P.O. Box 8104 Pensacola, FL 32505 | While they do not sell Psilocybe spores anymore, they are still active supporters of the issue and they also put an excellent publication named "The Mushroom Culture". |
| FS Book Company P.O. Box 417457 Sacramento, CA 95841-7457 Phone: 1-916-771-4203 | Does not sell spores, but sells a "Mushroom Resource Catalog" for $15. |
| Fungi Perfecti P.O. Box 7634 Olympia, WA 98507 Phone : 1-800-780-9126 orders only 1-206-426-9292 other/int'l Fax : 1-206-426-9377 E-Mail: MYCOMEDIA@aol.com | Does not sell Psilocybe spores, but everything else is available. |
| J.L.F. P.O. Box 184-SC Elizabethtown, IN 47232 Phone: 1-812-379-2508 | Supposedly sells some rare species ready to eat and lotsa weird stuff. Free catalog. |
| HEMP BC 324 West Hastings Vancouver, B.C. Canada V6B 1K6 Phone: 1-604-681-4620 Fax : 1-604-681-4604 | Str. cubensis syringe w/ instructions $33.95, complete kit $95.65. S&H included, add $5 for delivery overseas. |
| Mushroompeople P.O. Box 220 Summertown, TN 38483-0220 E-Mail: NATLAW@igc.apc.org Voice/Fax: 1-615-964-2200 US Fax: 1-800-MYCO-FAX | Sells books related to mushrooms (including but not limited to psychoactive ones). The best, although not necessarily the cheapest, source for all types of mushroom literature. |
| Mycophile Books P.O. Box 93 Naples, FL 33939 Phone: 1-813-262-3363 | Just what the name says, and nothing more. Also sell used and rare books. Catalog $3. |
| Pacific Exotic Spora P.O. box 11611 Honolulu, HI 96828 | This company advertises spores for a single species as two species - Copelandia cyanescens and Panaeolus cyanescens. Guzman, Gerhardt, Schultes, John Allen and even the late Rolf Singer all agree that this is the same mushroom following two distinct taxonomic paths. They offer Psilocybe cubensis spores from Thailand for a very low price and want very high prices for the Panaeolus/Copelandia species. |
| Teonanácatl (postlagernd) Postamt 1092 A-1092 Vienna Austria | $5 for small Ps. cyanescens Astoria Ossip or small Ps. cyanascens USA sporeprint, $10-20 for large Ps. cyanescens Astoria Ossip sporeprint. Add $2 for shipping and handling. |
| SYZYGY P.O. Box 619 Honaunau, HI 96726 | $15 $1 (S&H) for a Str. cubensis print on a slide. |
.oOo. Growing Mushrooms .oOo.
This is about the only aspect of mushrooms that has been thoroughly covered in text files, so we advise you to consult them. Here are few of the better known and more complete files:
- The Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide
- The Psilocybin Producer's Guide
- Psilly Simon's Mushroom Growin' Guide II
- How To Grow Psychedelic Mushrooms
- Psylocybe Fanaticus Tek
There are also numerous files described more specialized methods such as different agar mixes, reports of successful growing, etc. For the serious or interested, there is Paul Stamets' excellent book, The Mushroom Cultivator, and McKenna brothers' Psilocybin: Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide written under pseudonyms O. T. Oss and O. N. Oeric, both available through many mail-order companies, such as FS books.
.oOo. Picking Mushrooms .oOo.
Before you leave for the site, remember a few things; clothing, container and energy. So respectively:
- Take clothing that keeps you warm and dry. Fever is not a funny thing during your experience. If your clothing is inadequate, a day out picking mushrooms can be a real pain.
- Take a container that breathes, preferably two to four different containers. And one set for each picker. Take lots of containers with you, especially if you are unsure or have not found the species - it is easy to put each sort into each container. A basket with a few paper cups or tins is just fine. Paper and cloth bags will do fine, but be wary of crushing the mushrooms during transport.
- Energy. Mushroom hunting can be really tiresome at times. Take your happiness and food rations with you -- you'll probably need both.
Once you have located the site keep it clean. If it is a cowfield, don't leave any gates open or either the owner of the field or the bull of the herd will get you. Try to just do your thing and then get out of there. Don't scream and shout. I wouldn't recommend telling about a site to anyone -- it instantaneously creates an "anonymous mmp-site" -- and suddenly everyone is there, sooner or later including the cops too.
OK, run around the field... do you find any mushrooms? If none found, you are not looking hard enough. No matter where you go in the fall, there's some sort of mushroom there. You'd be surprised at how well the things can hide themselves. Found -- what is it? Whether you identify it or not, put each species into different container -- if in doubt -- different container or throw it away. There are always two phases in identifying -- when picking and when cleaning (or should be). Always check carefully -- saves you lot of trouble. Here's what the Audubon Society's "Field Guide to North American Mushrooms" has to say on the issue:
Collect mushrooms in a flat-bottomed basket. Take along a roll of wax paper and wrap each species you find; do not use plastic wrap since it hastens decay. This will keep species separate and fresh until you return home. A pocket knife or trowel is useful in extracting mushrooms from the ground; be very careful not to disturb the underground root system more than necessary. Bring note cards with you and jot down pertinent field data. In particular, note the habitat of the mushroom, including what type of tree it is growing on or near; whether it is growing singly, scattered, in groups, or in clusters; any distinctive odor or taste; the color of the cap, stalk, gills, pores, or teeth, and latex, which may change after the mushroom has been picked. Note any color changes when it is bruised. You can also use the note cards to set up spore prints in the field; they will often be ready by the time you return home. If you are absolutely certain of the identification of an edible species, you can clean it in the field. Until you are experienced, however, it is best to take the mushroom home intact; the stalk base is often a crucial identification feature, and cleaning can remove diagnostic characteristics. The more characteristics you can observe, the better chance you have of identifying the mushroom. It helps to have fresh mushrooms rather than old ones, and to collect many specimens of one kind at various stages of growth.
Some advice from Mushroom John: There are now 214 species of entheogenic mushrooms thropughout the world. Of these 170 species are psilocybian mushrooms. Avoid all mushrooms with white or orange-cinnamon colored gills or sporeprints. This includes members of the Genus Gymnopilus, Concocybe and Inocybe. Stick to the 10 most common species found throughout the world. These species include the following: Copelandia cyanescens, Psilocybe baeocystis (Northwest usa only), Psilocybe cyanescens, Psilocybe cubensis, Psilocybe pelliculosa, Psilocybe semilanceata, Psilocybe stuntzii (Northwest USA only), Psilocybe semilanceata, Psilocybe stuntzii and Panaeolus subbalteatus. These species are always psychoactive in all collections analysed and they all have chocolate to purpur-brown sporeprints.
Always ask permission to travel onto someones private property. Use paper bags. Never use plastic baggies. This causes humidity and oxidation. Especially to panaeolus species.
.oOo. Drying Mushrooms .oOo.
.oO Fresh? Oo.
Mushrooms are best when fresh, both tasting better and working better. The freshness affects experiences a lot. The "divinity factor" is enhanced.
.oO Dry? Oo.
Drying mushrooms is easy. There are many ways to do it:
- The drawer. Put the mushrooms into a drawer on few sheets of paper. Wait 24 hours. Works well on smaller mushrooms such as Ps. semilanceata. If you have silica gel or something similar (captures humidity) I'd recommend using it.
- The oven. Put the mushrooms into an oven (with the fan on if there is one) with the heat set to 30 to 35 C (~90 F). Wait 2 to 6 hours. Higher temperatures, even 40 C, destroy psilocybin and psilocin.
- The mushroom dryer. Just follow the instructions. Also easy to build.
- The freeze dryer. A psilophile's dream come true, the gadget that stops the time on your mushrooms. Read the instructions.
Once the mushrooms are dry, place them into airtight containers and protect from light. Some psilophiles grind the mushrooms, if you do so, weight the outcome. It is very hard to tell how much of a dose there is if the mushrooms are dried and ground. Some mix the dried and chopped or ground mushrooms with honey. Be sure to use a brand that hardens once cooled. Place in refrigerator. Note that mushrooms containing only psilocybin keep their psychoactivity much longer than those containing psilocybin and psilocin or only the latter. Evidently the psilocin breaks up easily and needs refrigeration to be preserved. I have never had to preserve mushrooms over a year so I wouldn't know exactly, but if stored properly the mushrooms stay psychoactive for at least a year.
Especially with strong, large mushrooms like Str. cubensis, grinding is the only way of calibrating doses. With for example Ps. semilanceata, statistics ensure that the sum of 40 mushrooms from a batch will be more or less the same no matter which 40 you pick, but if you're eating only two Str. cubensis caps things are different. Thus, dry, grind, mix and weigh the resulting powder. After a carefully weighed initial dose (which you'll have to guess, aim low), it's easy to measure out smaller or larger doses in the future.
.oOo. On the Dosage .oOo.
Always start with low doses -- and continue for at least for the first couple of times. Some people might be familiar with LSD-25. Well they are bit similar, but still very different. I'd recommend about 20 Ps. semilanceatas or 2-3 dried grams, 2-3 dry g.'s for Psilocybe cubensis, 1-2 dry g.'s of Psilocybe cyanescens or about 3 g.'s of Ps. baeocystis. Increase the dose step by step, until you find the dose you are most comfortable with. There are people who never go for more than an ultra light trip, and some feel it must be an earthshattering experience. You'll probably find your dosage somewhere between these two extremes. The amounts of psilocin and -cybin vary. An extreme case:
"Me and a friend of mine were in a rave, and both had taken some mushrooms along. Semilanceatas... so at one point we decided to drink some mushroom tea, and both put 20 tiny mushrooms into our teas... I got nearly nowhere.. some funny effects, almost no dilation of pupils, very very light trip. My friend kept saying 'Wow' and 'What a trip', and some friends of ours tried to talk with him. Afterwards he said he didn't understand a word =). He said the trip was so intense it was as if he had consumed 60 semilanceatas."
.oOo. Effects of Magic Mushrooms .oOo.
A trip from magic mushrooms will give you intensification of existing feelings, visual hallucinations and transformation of experience of time and place. It gives you the feeling that things are different than usual. You will notice things you normally don't, or just take for granted. The things you see, hear or do are much more intense. You can see new perspectives or get feelings of insight, but mostly it causes a lot of laughter because all thess things you see are much funnier
The Intensity of a Trip after use of psychedelic drugs can be divided in:
Level 1:
This level produces a mild "stoning" effect, with some visual enhancement (i.e. brighter colours, etcetera). Some short term memory anomalies. Left/right brain communication changes causing music to sound "wider".
Level 2:
Bright colours and visuals (i.e. things start to move and breath), some 2 dimensional patterns become apparent upon shutting eyes. Confused or reminiscent thoughts. Change of short term memory leads to continual distractive thought patterns. Vast increase in creativity becomes apparent as the natural brain filter is bypassed.
Level 3:
Very obvious visuals, everything looking curved and/or warped patterns and kaleidoscopes seen on walls, faces etc. Some mild hallucinations such as rivers flowing in wood, grained or "mother of pearl" surfaces. Closed eye hallucinations become 3 dimensional. There is some confusion of the senses (i.e. seeing sounds as colours, etcetera). Time distortions and "moments of eternity".
Level 4:
Strong hallucinations, i.e. objects morphing into other objects. Destruction or multiple splitting of the ego. (Things start talking to you, or you find that you are feeling contradictory things simultaneously). Some loss of reality. Time becomes meaningless. Out of body experiences and e.s.p. type phenomena. Blending of the senses.
Level 5:
Total loss of visual connection with reality. The senses cease to function in the normal way. Total loss of ego. Merging with space, other objects, or the universe. The loss of reality becomes so severe that it defies explanation. The earlier levels are relatively easy to explain in terms of measureable changes in perception and thought patterns. This level is different in that the actual universe within which things are normally perceived, ceases to exist! Satori enlightenment (and other such labels).
.oOo. Consumption .oOo.
Once ready for a trip after a yearlong meditation in the wilderness, one is confronted with a problem -- how to get that dry and unpleasant tasting stuff down?
- Honey & spices & water & mushrooms
This one is a bit sweet but does a good job of covering the taste. Take a half glass of warm or cold water, three or more spoonfuls of honey, and according to taste, spices such as nutmeg, ginger and others. Grind the mushrooms with spices into fine powder, mix everything carefully and gulp down. - Mushroom cacao
Get some cacao beans/powder for this one. Warm some water to 40-60 C. Let the mushrooms steep in this water for about five minutes, fish 'em out and add cacao powder and mix well. Or you can grind mushrooms into fine powder. Sweeten with honey, and drink. Another variation is hot chocolate -- melt some chocolate in water instead of cacao. - Mushroom tea
Drown some groid dried mushrooms in hot water, wait five minutes, and drink. If you seriously dislike the taste of shrooms, just drink the water (although you'll lose part of the effect). I find that this is a good way of getting the shrooms down as well though, just dump in a baggy of strong tea and you won't taste a thing. - Mushrooms & orange juice
Blend an appropriate amount of fresh mushrooms and orange juice in a blender. The orange juice masks the taste quite well, the blender chops up the shrooms into tiny chunks so all the psilocybin is digested, and the vitamin C in the juice won't hurt either. - Pizzas
Just add fresh or dried mushrooms on top. Note that eating a lot adds to physical interference. - Shroom powder and liquids of choice
The finer you grind the shrooms, the better this works. Take a piece of paper and fold twice so you have a V-shape, and make a little pile of shroom powder on one end of it. Open your mouth and let the stuff flow in, then drink water/juice/tea/whatever to wash it down. Figure out an optimal pile size, and you can down the shrooms in record time with no taste and maximum psilocybin ingestion efficiency. Just be careful not to laugh or sneeze when holding the paper, otherwise you'll have to lick the carpet to get the powder... =) - Chew & grind
For this one, toss mushrooms into your mouth, chew well and swallow. The most efficient and simple method of mushroom ingestion. Dried mushrooms taste quite a bit more unpleasant than fresh ones. - Other recipes
I have heard about people making mushroom wine or mushroom chili. There are lots of foods you can put mushrooms into, but I'd recommend indulging in culinary pleasures after the trip. Also note that excessive heat breaks down psilocybin and psilocin, so always add the shrooms in after the food is cooked.
.oOo. Preparation For The Voyage .oOo.
There is a lot one can do to ensure a enjoyable voyage. People often talk about the "set and setting", squaking the three words like bunch of parrots and hardly giving much thought into their meaning. It's probably all the same whether you've ingested super-pure & fresh LSD-25 or nail-polishing fluid if the set and the setting aren't in condition.
- Packing
Get into packing a couple of days before the voyage. Load your gear (brain) with everything you think will be useful. Personally I like documents about nature as they are easy to pack (video or TV). Books are fine but bit slower to load. Walking in nature, quiet and peaceful, and meditating ensures I get enough mental energy and happiness along. Try to break the normal circles of work, and if you are stressed, take few more days away from everything before leaving on the expedition. Go easy on your diet. Some fast for the previous week, others don't pay any attention to what and how much they eat. I eat normally until the day before, after which I eat mostly vegetables and fruits. - Place
Clean it up. Get some fresh air into it. Tell all your friends/relatives not to visit, and disconnect the doorbell and take the phone off the wall. Make everything as comfortable as possible. Fresh flowers will blow your mind with their beautiful looks and odors. A stroboscope is also worth a try, especially at 20 to 30 Hz. Lights are probably best low or off (and of white color). Music is so important we've given it its own section, coming up next. - Flight
Loose clothing and something to put on/take off; you'll be lying down most of the time, so pick something you could sleep in. Something to drink -- see if your drinks include caffeine or other chemicals. Water is always the best. Some light snacks to eat during the trip, and possibly something to fill your stomach after the trip. Drawing during take-off can be fun, also psychedelic videos. Anyway, for a real "trip" I say: after the takeoff, turn the lights off, turn the volume to the edge of subliminal, and relax & tune into the vibe of the Earth.
.oOo. Music and the Voyage .oOo.
One of the important factors of the setting is music -- especially in urban environment music may be necessery to camouflage and change the every-day-soundscape. Music can tingle your imagination in a myriad different ways. Music can take you away, comfort or make you feel unbelievalably good. It can also make you sad, jumpy or angry. Therefore it is very important to make the right choice of music. There is tripping music and there is tripping music -- depending on the results one wishes to achieve. I will concentrate on the deeper side; music for shamanic voyages, spacetravels and intense mushroom-magic-trips. I speak from my own experience, thru my own frame of reference, so all of the material recommended might not be on your wavelength -- I was often skeptical myself but results often are awesome and surprising. Music you like during your normal states of conciousness is probably not ideal -- for instance lots of the ambient done today is not very nice for tripping, but probably ideal listening both before and after the trip. For a voyage try to find music that is calm, not too hectic or fast, not too structured and stays in the background if desired.
- Ambient
Lots of music goes under this name today, and it may very hard to find something truly ambient among all those new ambient- techno/dub releases. All time favorites of mine and many others include Ashra Temple, John Cage, Cluster, Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Steve Hillage, Daniel Lanois, Pink Floyd, David Toop & Max Eastley, Tangerine Dream and Tuu. Many music stores lump these under the heading "New Age" next to stuff like Yanni -- bleah. All of these move on the more serious tangents -- worth checking out. On the lighter, more techno side of the ambient -- try Aphex Twin, James Bernard, FFWD, Future Sound of London (FSOL), Pete Namlook, The Orb (especially the newer releases), William Orbit, Seafeel, Sun Electric or Terre Thaemlitz for instance. - Ethno
Music from the different cultures around the world and especially music by shamen or music aiming to a religious or spiritual experience -- shamanistic drumming, australian dijeridoo sounds or chantings by gregorian or buddhist monks, for instance. "Meditative music" compilations can be excellent. There are huge volumes of this sort of music published around the world. - Minimalism, especially Terry Riley. Steve Reich, Philip Glass and Lamonte Young have all made "psychoacoustic music", to use a term developed by Brian Eno for his own music. Riley is especially...er... "beyond words" -- something unbelievalable. For connoisseurs.
- Silence, either complete or 'The music of the Mother Nature' -- best tripping music for as long there has been humans around to trip. The patter of raindrops falling surpasses just about any music humans can come up with. A must try. Perfect.
.oOo. During the Voyage .oOo.
Once you are in the air it is relatively easy to forget that you can alter the course of trip. Visuals and thoughts come and go, and everything follows some strangely familiar yet divine and unknown path. So one is left gawking at all this jaw open, as if watching TV. But changing pathways is easy -- provided you don't forget it is possible =) Always decide and ponder what you want to see and where you want to go before the experience. A shamanic voyage to the underworld is a snack, as is seeing the future. Usually every tripper forms his own way, follows his own paths, be it for good or evil. Anything is possible!
And remember the immortal words of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
_____ _ _ . . ___ __ . . . . _ ___ _____ / | / | | / | | | /| | | | / / / | | | | | )( )| | | |--' /-| | | | ( V | | | | | ___/ | | / _/ | | | | / | | | | _/ o | ___/ | _____/ ******************* ******************** *** _____/
.oO A general topological examination of the scenery Oo.
| Minutes after ingestion: | |
| 0 Ignition | Usually the first effects of psiloc[ybin/in] are perceivable after ten or twenty minutes. Funny or strange things may pop into your mind. One may feel very relaxed or like jumping all over the place. Next you may feel like you were blasting off, up towards the stars, rising high. Chewing the mushrooms for about ten minutes in your mouth enables the psilocybin and its analogues to enter the brain faster -- if the mushrooms are immediately swallowed, it may take as long as 1 hour for the first effects to set in. |
|---|---|
| 20 Acceleration | If you get any physical symptoms, this is when they will hit. You can avoid or at least reduce nausea by not eating very much before the trip and not moving around too much during this phase. Throwing up is uncommon but not unheard of; having a barf bag around, especially on the first few trips, is a good idea. If you find that your body really doesn't like shrooms, a motion sickness pill (Dramamine and similar anti-histamines) beforehand may help. But don't worry about it too much, even if you feel queasy the nausea will end quite quickly. |
| 40 Leaving the atmosphere | One will begin entering the realms of the experience; often the first real signs are simple hallucinations with the eyes closed or in darkness, little colored pixels floating around, etc. If one is going to go to the toilet, it should be done now. |
| 70 Flight | 1 hour is usually sufficient for the more powerful effects to set in. The body will feel heavy and drowsy. |
| 130 Peak | After two hours the peak of the experience. Often quite awesome. |
| 300 Deceleration | By now one will again start to remember the concepts of normal reality and may feel like getting something to drink and eat, or talk and do some moving about. |
| 360 Touchdown | After about six hours most of the effects have disappeared and sleeping becomes possible. |
| 12 h Reality | If you trip at night and fall asleep when the trip is ending, this is when you'll wake up... and the odds are you'll feel GRRRRRREAT! |
| 7 days Jet lag | Afterglow of the experience will persist anywhere from few days to several weeks; what you've learned may change your life. Occasionally this learning will be negative and you'll be depressed for a while as you assimilate the fact that you've been wrong about something for all your life, but the depression is never extreme and - cheezy as it may sound - you will be a much better person afterwards. |
Surgeon General's Warning: One of the aftereffects of psilocybin (and most all psychedelics for that matter) is "emotional fluctuation", i.e. things that would make you a bit happy cause euphoria and conversely things you don't like cause depression. At its worst this is a real manic-depressive rollercoaster, but usually the fluctuations are more positive than negative ("It's Monday morning and I feel GRRRRRRREAT!"). At any rate, this rarely lasts longer than a day or two, so don't worry about it.
.oO Notes on physical interference Oo.
In addition to the possible nausea in the beginning, which invariably wears off by the time the hallucinations start, the mushrooms can cause physical or psychosomatic interference. You will feel odd, weird and maybe scary physical sensations like liquid skin or distorted body-proportions. You may feel that you have trouble breathing; you may feel that you've just pissed or shit in your pants; you may feel that you're sinking into the ground or into yourself. If you really start worrying about this, you may start to feel like there are worms crawling inside your stomach, that the roof is about to collapse on you, that the sheet you are lying under is trying to eat you...
Don't panic! First of all, 'serious' effects of this type are quite unusual, but even if they do occur getting rid of them is usually easy. Just remember, nothing has really happened or is really happening, it's just your mind exaggerating and creating things. Learn to relax and distract your thoughts on other tangents at moments like this. A simple exercise you can try to practice thought diversion, no drugs needed:
Lie on your bed in complete darkness, listening to suitable evil/freaky music with headphones. Skinny Puppy and ambient industrial are the classic choices. Meditate or just relax for a while. Then, think about something you have a phobia about: snakes, spiders, skeletons, rats, tornados, earthquakes, even mushrooms. Everybody has something they're irrationally afraid of. Staring at a picture of such a thing beforehand may help. At any rate, you will, in all likelihood, feel yourself to be tipping over and falling uncontrollably. Imagine that you're falling into a bottomless pit filled with the nasty thing. Visualize it. Now attempt to wrench your thoughts to something else. If you can take half an hour of this without ripping off the headphones, you're in good shape.
.oO The Eraserhead Syndrome Oo.
The mushrooms can be fun. One may feel like eating them every day. A -- not cool, B -- not good. A mental/physical tolerance builds up quite fast: usually three or four times with 7 day intervals cause diminished effect and notably less divine trip. I'd recommend visiting the spiritworld 4 to 10 times a year, for the freshness and divinity of it. Most of us know an acid- or pot-head -- a drug abuser. I call acid/ mushroomheads Eraserheads (seen the movie?), as they are often bit paranoid and manic-depressive and dullheaded. It's easy to get bad vibes off the psilos -- just do the mushrooms like you'd do alcohol -- without respect or any care. So -- remember what the foreword says, and use the consciousness of turbocharged-monkeybrain we all have. And if you only want to get your brain fucked up there are better substances for that in the world. Bad trip? What... hey waitaminute, I know -- it's that oriental food with rice and peaches and raw tuna innards -- No??? Everyone gets anxious or bad feelings during their dives to the seas of collective unconciousness. It's normal, but the magnitude of baddies can be decreased by paying attention to "set and setting." A friend or guide can distract the attention of an tripper to a wholly different direction. A change of room, place, music or lights often helps. Possible bodily discomfort can be eliminated by learning relaxational techniques and breathing exercises. Keeping your body in good condition is not only good for your trip, but also for your life. Generally, it's good to try to trip for living, not to live for tripping.
.oOo. Miscellaneous Questions .oOo.
| Q: | Can black market 'shrooms be laced with LSD? |
|---|---|
| A: | Yes, very possibly, if the local market price for mushrooms is higher than that of LSD (as it usually is). If the mushroom looks nothing like any of the common psychoactive species, or you are told that one or two small ones are enough to trip hard, odds are it's laced. Note that at least one dealer, fooled by the urban legend of LSD needing strychnine for binding to the paper, laced his LSD-shrooms with strychnine as well! (PharmChem 1972, vol 1, #7) Thus, either get your shrooms fresh from the fields (cheaper as well) or know what they look like and what the dosage is before buying. |
| Q: | What about Amanita muscaria (Fly Agaric)? |
| A: | Amanita muscaria, the classic red toadstool with white warts on top, does not contain psilocybin, but a series of muscarinic deleriants. It's also poisonous (not very, but deaths are known) and in general rather nasty. Avoid. [This is not actually the case. Some Amanita species are poisonous, but the entheogenic ones are not. See the Pharmacotheon (Ott, 1993) for an extremely informed discussion of entheogenic Amanitas and the active principles they contain (ibotenic acid and muscimol). Ott shows that almost all "poisonings" have been accidental ingestions of entheogenic species thought to be edible (in the usual sense). Having never tripped before, people panic, assume they have been poisoned, go to the hospital, and "recover" (i.e. come down) -- J.F.] |
| Q: | What happens if I combine 'shrooms and other drugs? |
| A: |
|
| Q: | Shrooms grow all by themselves in nature in zarking cow shit, why is sterility so important when growing them yourself? |
| A: | In nature, there are 17 billion spores of all kinds of different shrooms flying around. As people who've been to a cow pasture will know, most patties will not have Psilocybes, they'll either have something completely different or nothing at all. But in a pasture, there's a lot of shit, and there's a lot of shrooms, so it's enough if 1/100 patties have the right kind. Now, when you're growing them at home, if you sprinkle spores in each dish and don't give a shit about sterility, you'll have natural conditions and maybe every hundredth jar will get the right shrooms. Needless to say, this is not good, so you must push up the odds of the right shrooms growing by improving sterility. |
Further Reading:
.oOo. Further Reading .oOo.
I will not attempt a complete bibliography on the subject, but more of a 'further reading'-sort of list.
Carlos Castaneda, Philip K. Dick, Timothy Leary, Terence McKenna, Andrew Weil, Robert Anton Wilson and Aldous Huxley all make fine reading. Peter Stafford's "Psychedelic Encyclopedia" is a classic, as is "Plants of the Gods" by Richard Schultes and Albert Hofmann. Umberto Eco has always been very good when talking about the mind, almost as good as Herman Hesse. And for some attitude - read Byron.
.oOo. References .oOo.
Apologies for not footnoting everything exactly, you'll just have to bounce around checking the references (or ask us) if you want to know where a specific bit of info comes from.
Benedict, R. G.; Tyler; V. E.; Watling, R. (1967) "Blueing in Conocybe, Psilocybe, and a Stropharia Species and the Detection of Psilocybin." Lloydia 30(2), 150-157.
Benedict, R. G. et al. (1962) "Occurrence of Psilocybin and Psilocin in Certain Conocybe and Psilocybe Species." Lloydia 25(3), 157-160.
Beug, M. W.; Bigwood, J. (1982) "Psilocybin and Psilocin Levels in Twenty Species From Seven Genera of Wild Mushrooms in the Pacific Northwest, U.S.A." J. Ethnopharmacology 5, 271-285.
Bigwood, J.; Beug, M. W. (1982) "Variation of Psilocybin and Psilocin Levels With Repeated Flushed (Harvests) of Mature Sporocarps of Psilocybe cubensis (Earle) Singer." J. Ethnopharmacology 5, 287-291.
Catalfomo, P.; Tyler, V. E. (1964) "The Production of Psilocybin in Submerged Culture by Psilocybe cubensis." Lloydia 27(1), 53-63.
Gartz, J. (1994) "Extraction and Analysis of Indole Derivatives From Fungal Biomass". J. Basic Microbiology 34(1), 17-22.
Gartz, J. (1991) "Influence of phosphate on fruiting and secondary metabolism of mycelia of Psilocybe cubensis, Psilocybe semilanceata and Gymnopilus purpuratus." Zeitschrift fuer Mykologie 57(1), 149-154.
Gartz, J. (1989) "Occurrence of Psilocybin, Psilocin and Baeocystin in Gymnopilus purpuratus." Persoonia 14(1), 19-22.
Guzmán, G.; Ott, J. (1976) "Description and Chemical Analysis of a New Species of Hallucinogenic Psilocybe From the Pacific Northwest." Mycologia 68, 1261-1267.
Guzmán, G. et al. (1976) "Psychotropic Mycoflora of Washington, Idaho, Oregon, California and British Columbia." Mycologia 68, 1267-1271.
Hřiland, K. (1978) "The genus Psilocybe in Norway." Norwegian J. Botany 25(2), 111-122.
Jokiranta, J. et al. (1984) "Psilocybin in Finnish Psilocybe semilanceata." Planta Medica 51, 277-278.
Leung, A. Y. Paul, A. G. (1968) "Baeocystin and Norbaeocystin: New Analogs of Psilocybin from Psilocybe baeocystis." J. Pharm. Sci. 57(10), 1667-1671.
Leung, A. Y.. Smith, A. H.; Paul, A. G. (1965) "Production of Psilocybin in Psilocybe baeocystis Saprophytic Culture". J. Pharm. Sci. 54(11), 1576-1579.
Neal, J. M.; Benedict, R. G.; Brady, L. R. (1968) "Interrelationship of Phosphate Nutrition, Nitrogen Metabolism and Accumulation of Key Secondary Metabolites in Saprophytic Cultures of Psilocybe cubensis, Psilocybe cyanescens and Panaeolus campanulatus." J. Pharm. Sci. 57(10), 1661-1667.
Ohenoja, E. et al. (1987) "The Occurrence of Psilocybin and Psilocin in Finnish Fungi". J. Natural Products 50(4), 741-744.
Repke, D. B. et al. (1977) "Baeocystin in Psilocybe, Conocybe and Panaeolus." Lloydia 40(6), 566-578.
Singer, R.; Smith, A. H. (1958) "Mycological Investigations on Teonanácatl, the Mexican Hallucinogenic Mushroom. Part II: A Taxonomic Monograph of Psilocybe, Section Caerulescentes." Mycologia 50, 263-303.
Allen, J. W. 1997. Magic Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest. Psilly Publ. And RaverBooks. Seattle. 35 black and white photographs and 12 in color. (Order from RaverBooks at http://www.pulpfiction.com/rave/shroomy.html)
Allen, J. W. and M. D. Merlin. 1992. Observations Regarding the Suspected Psychoactive Properties of Panaeolina foenisecii Maire. In: Christian Rätsch (Ed.) Yearbook for Ethnomedicin and the Study of Consciousness vol. 1(1):99-115.
Arora, D. 1979. Mushrooms Demystified. Ten Speed Press. Berkeley, California.
Guzmán, G. 1983. The Genus Psilocybe: A Systematic Revision of the Known Species Including the History, Distribution and Chemistry of the Hallucinogenic Species. Beihefte zur Nova Hedwigia vol. 74. J. Cramer. Vaduz, Germany.
Guzmán, G. 1995. Supplement to the Monograph of the Genus Psilocybe. In: Petrini and E. Horak: Taxonomic Monographs of Agfaricales. Bibliotheca Mycologica vol. 159:91-141. Berlin-Stuttgart, Germany.
Guzmán, G., Allen, J. W. and Jochen Gartz. 1999. A Worldwide Geographical Distribution of the Neurotropic Fungi, An Analysis and Discussion. Annali dei Musei Civici. Rovereto, Italy. (In Press) 160 pages.
Ott, J. 1993. Pharmacotheon: Entheogenic Drugs, Their Plant Sources and History. Natural Products. Kenniwick, Washington.
Stamets, P. 1996. Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World: An Identification Guide. Ten Speed Press. Berkeley, California.
.oOo. Endnotes .oOo.
(K) Kopyleft Brahman Industries 1994-1995. All rites reversed.
Please note that 'Nature's Perfect Entheogen' is a trademark of Mother Nature Incorporated.
__Jani "Gnosis" PoijÓrvi On the neverending quest /(o BRAHMANgnosis@brahman.nullnet.fi for knowledge by identity. o)/ 358-0-498797
Agar, Silica Gel, Peat, Microscope, Nitrous Oxide, Balloons, Cracker, Syrian Rue, San Pedro, pH Test Strips, Hemp, Scales 
Paul Stamets, Terrence McKenna, Aldous Huxley, Pink Floyd, The Doors, ½ Pint Jars
