Psilocybe caerulipes, commonly known as blue-foot, is a rare psilocybin mushroom

Psilocybin mushroom

Psilocybin mushrooms are fungi that contain the psychoactive compounds psilocybin and psilocin. There are multiple colloquial terms for psilocybin mushrooms, the most common being shrooms or magic mushrooms....

 of the Strophariaceae

Strophariaceae

The Strophariaceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. The family contains 18 genera and 1316 species. The species of Strophariaceae have a red-brown to dark brown spore print, while the spores themselves are smooth and have an apical germ pore. These agarics are also characterized by...

 family, having psilocybin

Psilocybin

Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug, with mind-altering effects similar to those of LSD and mescaline, after it is converted to psilocin. The effects can include altered thinking processes, perceptual distortions, an altered sense of time, and spiritual experiences, as well as...

 and psilocin

Psilocin

Psilocin , an aromatic compound, sometimes also spelled psilocine, psilocyn, or psilotsin, is a psychedelic mushroom alkaloid. It is found in most psychedelic mushrooms together with its phosphorylated counterpart psilocybin...

 as main active compounds. An older synonym is Agaricus caerulipes.

It is in the section Semilanceatae, other members of the section include Psilocybe bohemica, Psilocybe callosa

Psilocybe callosa

Psilocybe callosa is a species of mushroom in the Strophariaceae family....

, Psilocybe carbonaria

Psilocybe carbonaria

Psilocybe carbonaria is a species of mushroom in the Strophariaceae family....

, Psilocybe cyanofibrillosa

Psilocybe cyanofibrillosa

Psilocybe cyanofibrillosa also known as Rhododendron Psilocybe and Blue-Haired Psilocybe is a psilocybin mushroom of the Agaricales family having psilocybin and psilocin as main active compounds...

, Psilocybe fimetaria

Psilocybe fimetaria

Psilocybe fimetaria, is a psilocybin mushroom, having psilocybin and psilocin as main active compounds.-Description:*Cap: 1.5 — 3.5 cm in diameter, convex to plano-convex, becoming subcampanulate to broadly convex in age, with or without a sharp papilla. Surface even to translucent-striate...

, Psilocybe indica

Psilocybe indica

Psilocybe indica is a species of mushroom in the Strophariaceae family. The mushroom contains psilocybin, a prodrug for the psychedelic tryptamine psilocin....

, Psilocybe liniformans var. liniformans, Psilocybe liniformans var. americana

Psilocybe liniformans var. americana

Psilocybe liniformans var. americana, is a psilocybin mushroom of the Agaricales family, in the section Semilanceatae, having psilocybin as its main active compound.-Description:...

, Psilocybe pelliculosa

Psilocybe pelliculosa

Psilocybe pelliculosa is a species of fungus in the Strophariaceae family. The fruit bodies, or mushrooms, have a conical brownish cap up to in diameter atop a slender stem up to long. It has a white partial veil that does not leave a ring on the stem. American mycologist Alexander H...

, Psilocybe semiinconspicua

Psilocybe semiinconspicua

Psilocybe semiinconspicua is a psilocybin mushroom in section Semilanceatae native to the state of Washington in the United States. The mushroom is small, rare, difficult to see and stains blue where damaged...

, Psilocybe semilanceata

Psilocybe semilanceata

Psilocybe semilanceata, commonly known as the liberty cap, is a psychedelic mushroom that contains the psychoactive compounds psilocybin and baeocystin. Of the world's psychoactive mushrooms, it is the most common in nature, and one of the most potent...

, Psilocybe serbica

Psilocybe serbica

Psilocybe serbica is a species of mushroom in the Strophariaceae family. The mushroom contains the compound psilocybin. It is closely related to Psilocybe cyanescens, although the latter has a strong farinaceous odor and taste and is not translucent-striate when moist. It was reported as new to...

, Psilocybe silvatica

Psilocybe silvatica

Psilocybe silvatica, is a psilocybin mushroom of the Agaricales family, in the section Semilanceatae, having psilocybin as main active compound. It is closely related to Psilocybe pelliculosa.- Description :...

, Psilocybe subfimetaria and Psilocybe venenata

Psilocybe venenata

Psilocybe venenata is a species of mushroom in the Strophariaceae family. The mushroom contains the medicinal compound psilocybin....

.

Description

Psilocybe caerulipes has a farinaceous taste and a no to slightly farinaceous odor.

• The cap
  Stipe (mycology)
  thumb|150px|right|Diagram of a [[basidiomycete]] stipe with an [[annulus |annulus]] and [[volva |volva]]In mycology a stipe refers to the stem or stalk-like feature supporting the cap of a mushroom. Like all tissues of the mushroom other than the hymenium, the stipe is composed of sterile hyphal...
  
  is 1 — 3.5 cm in diameter, obtusely conic to convex, and the margin is initially turned inwards, later becoming broadly convex to flattened or somewhat umbilicate while retaining a slight umbo, and at times quite irregular. The surface is viscid when moist from a gelatinous pellicle
  Pellicle
  Pellicle may refer to:*Pellicle , a thin layer supporting the cell membrane in various protozoa*Pellicle mirror, a thin plastic membrane which may be used as a beam splitter or protective cover in optical systems...
  
  , but soon becomes dry and shiny, translucent-striate, and decorated with fine fibrillose veil remnants near the margin, often with greenish stains near the margin or a greenish tinge overall. It is cinnamon brown to dingy brown when fresh, hygrophanous
  Hygrophanous
  The adjective hygrophanous refers to the color change of mushroom tissue as it loses or absorbs water, which causes the pileipellis to become more transparent when wet and opaque when dry....
  
  , and soon fading to dingy ochraceous buff to cinnamon buff. The flesh is thin, pliant, bruising blue, sometimes slowly.
• The gills are close to crowded, narrow with adnate to sinuate to uncinate attachment. They are light brown at first, becoming rusty cinnamon as the spores mature; the edges are whitish and slightly fimbriate.
• The spore
  Spore
  In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many bacteria, plants, algae, fungi and some protozoa. According to scientist Dr...
  
  s are dark purple brown, ellipsoid, 7—10 x 4—5 µm from 4-spored basidia, thick-walled, and with a broad germ pore. The spores from 2-spored basidia are larger.
• The stipe
  Stipe (mycology)
  thumb|150px|right|Diagram of a [[basidiomycete]] stipe with an [[annulus |annulus]] and [[volva |volva]]In mycology a stipe refers to the stem or stalk-like feature supporting the cap of a mushroom. Like all tissues of the mushroom other than the hymenium, the stipe is composed of sterile hyphal...
  
  is 3–6 cm long, 1.5–3 mm thick, equal to enlarging downwards, tough, and is whitish to buff at first. The stipe is pallid to bluish when dried, becoming dingy brown towards the base with age, and bruises blue, sometimes slowly. The surface is powdered at the apex, and covered with whitish to grayish fibril
  Fibril
  Fibril is a fine fiber approximately 1 nm in diameter.Cytoplasmic fibrils are observed on the protoplasmic cylinders found in most spirochetal species, although no function of the cytoplasmic fibrils has been ascribed....
  
  s downwards. The flesh is stuffed with a pith
  Pith
  Pith, or medulla, is a tissue in the stems of vascular plants. Pith is composed of soft, spongy parenchyma cells, which store and transport nutrients throughout the plant. In eudicots, pith is located in the center of the stem. In monocots, it extends also into flowering stems and roots...
  
   and is solid at first but becomes hollow It lacks an annulus
  Annulus (mycology)
  An annulus is the ring like structure sometimes found on the stipe of some species of mushrooms. The annulus represents the remaining part of the partial veil, after it has ruptured to expose the gills or other spore-producing surface. An annulus may be thick and membranous, or it may be cobweb-like...
  
   but sometimes remnants of the thin cortinate partial veil form a soon disappearing fibrillose annular zone in the upper region of the stem.
• Microscopic features: The basidia
  Basidium
  thumb|right|500px|Schematic showing a basidiomycete mushroom, gill structure, and spore-bearing basidia on the gill margins.A basidium is a microscopic, spore-producing structure found on the hymenophore of fruiting bodies of basidiomycete fungi. The presence of basidia is one of the main...
  
   are 2- and 4-spored. Pleurocystidia are absent. The cheilocystidia are 18—35 x 4.5—7.5 µm, langeniform (swollen at the base, narrowed at the top), and with a thin neck, sometimes forked, 1—2.5 µm broad at apices.

Habitat

Psilocybe caerulipes may be found growing solitary to cespitose, in deciduous

Deciduous

Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...

 forests on hardwood slash and debris, plant matter, on or about decaying hardwood logs, birch

Birch

Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...

, beech

Beech

Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...

 and maple

Maple

Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...

.

Distribution

Psilocybe caerulipes grows in eastern North America, from Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 to North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, and west to Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

. It has also been found as far south as Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. It is often overlooked as just another little brown mushroom, and although widely distributed, it is not found often. It is sometimes confused with the larger Psilocybe ovoideocystidiata

Psilocybe ovoideocystidiata

Psilocybe ovoideocystidiata is a psilocybin mushroom in the section Stuntzae, having psilocybin and/or psilocin as main active compounds. It is closely related to P. subaeruginascens from Java, P. septentrionalis from Japan, and P. wayanadensis from India.This mushroom was first documented by...

.

Further reading

• Guzmán, G. The Genus Psilocybe: A Systematic Revision of the Known Species Including the History, Distribution and Chemistry of the Hallucinogenic Species. Beihefte zur Nova Hedwigia Heft 74. J. Cramer, Vaduz, Germany (1983) [now out of print].