Psilocybe naematoliformis
Encyclopedia
Psilocybe naematoliformis, is a species of fungus
in the mushroom family
Strophariaceae
. It is a psilocybin mushroom
, having psilocybin
and psilocin
as the main active hallucinogenic compounds.
in a tropical rainforest
at Uxpanapa
Region, in the State of Veracruz
in southeastern Mexico; he reported the finding in a 1979 publication, and called the fungus Psilocybe naematoliformis. Guzmán later considered species with chrysocystidia (cystidia whose contents contain a distinct refractive yellow body, that become more deeply yellow when stained with ammonia or other alkaline compounds) to be separate from Psilocybe, and transferred the species first to Naematoloma in 1980, and then later to Hypholoma
in 1999. In 2004, Guzmán revised his opinion again, and considered the species more suitably placed in Psilocybe.
P. naematoliformi is in the section Neocaledonicae, a group of related tropical and subtropical species in the Psilocybe
genus; other members of the section include Psilocybe aequatoriae
(Ecuador
), Psilocybe neocaledonicum
(New Caledonia
), and Psilocybe neorhombispora
(Mexico).
is 1 – in diameter, bell-shaped to subumbonate, smooth, and slightly slimy but soon dry. The color may range from a pale orange-brown to a deep rusty brown. It is hygrophanous
, fading to buff; the color is blackish brown when dry, and slightly translucent-striate when wet. Like other hallucinogenic psilocybes, it stains blue when bruised or injured. The gills are adnate in attachment to the stem, or may be notched at the point of attachment (sinuate). They are narrow, and brownish violet to dark violet, with whitish edges. The stem
is 3.5 – tall by 1–3 mm thick, subequal, flexuous, and hollow. The color of the stem is reddish-brown or brownish; it is densely covered with silk-like fibers, and tufts of soft woolly hairs. The veil
does not form an annulus
. The taste of this species has been described as slightly bitter, and the smell slightly farinaceous, like grain.
in the base, and are smooth and thick-walled. The basidia, the spore-bearing cells in the hymenium
, are 12–19 by 4.4–5.5 μm, and hyaline
. The pleurocystidia (cystidia on the gill face) are 15–29 by 5.5–8.8 μm; clear, gray or brown in color, fusoid-ventricose to mucronate, sometimes with a median constriction, similar to the species Psilocybe subaeruginosa
Clel. from Australia. The cheilocystidia (cystidia on the gill edge) are 12–28 by 5.5–7.7 μm, hyaline, very numerous, ventricose, mucronate or fusiform-lanceolate, often forked.
plants. This species was originally found in Mexico
, State of Veracruz, Uxpanapa
region, and recently in Georgia
, United States. In the United States, P. naematoliformis grows in disturbed habitats that are rich in wood and leaf debris and have a mixture of clay soil with sand. They have also been found growing directly from wood debris that is above the soil. They are often found growing at the base of hills where debris collect after it rains.
Fungus
A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...
in the mushroom family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by 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...
. It is a 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....
, 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 the main active hallucinogenic compounds.
Discovery and classification
The species was originally found by mycologist Gastón GuzmánGastón Guzmán
Gastón Guzmán is a Mexican mycologist and anthropologist. He is considered the world's foremost authority on the genus Psilocybe.He was born in Xalapa, Veracruz, in 1932....
in a tropical rainforest
Tropical rainforest
A tropical rainforest is an ecosystem type that occurs roughly within the latitudes 28 degrees north or south of the equator . This ecosystem experiences high average temperatures and a significant amount of rainfall...
at Uxpanapa
Uxpanapa
Uxpanapa is a municipality lying in the southeastern part of the state of Veracruz , in Mexico. It is bordered by the municipalities of Jesús Carranza, Hidalgotitlán, Minatitlán, and Las Choapas in Veracruz, as well as Santa María Chimalapa in Oaxaca...
Region, in the State of Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
in southeastern Mexico; he reported the finding in a 1979 publication, and called the fungus Psilocybe naematoliformis. Guzmán later considered species with chrysocystidia (cystidia whose contents contain a distinct refractive yellow body, that become more deeply yellow when stained with ammonia or other alkaline compounds) to be separate from Psilocybe, and transferred the species first to Naematoloma in 1980, and then later to Hypholoma
Hypholoma
Fungi of the genus Hypholoma are quite well known due to the commonness of Sulphur Tuft on stumps in temperate woodlands. This species is easily recognizable because the dark spores create a distinctive greenish effect on the yellow cap underside...
in 1999. In 2004, Guzmán revised his opinion again, and considered the species more suitably placed in Psilocybe.
P. naematoliformi is in the section Neocaledonicae, a group of related tropical and subtropical species in the Psilocybe
Psilocybe
Psilocybe is a genus of small mushrooms growing worldwide. This genus is best known for its species with psychedelic or hallucinogenic properties, widely known as "magic mushrooms", though the majority of species do not contain hallucinogenic compounds...
genus; other members of the section include Psilocybe aequatoriae
Psilocybe aequatoriae
Psilocybe aequatoriae is a species of mushroom in the Strophariaceae family....
(Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
), Psilocybe neocaledonicum
Psilocybe neocaledonicum
Psilocybe neocaledonicum is a species of mushroom in the Strophariaceae family. The mushroom contains the medicinal compound psilocybin....
(New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
), and Psilocybe neorhombispora
Psilocybe neorhombispora
Psilocybe neorhombispora is a species of mushroom in the Strophariaceae family. The mushroom contains the medicinal compound psilocybin....
(Mexico).
Description
The capPileus (mycology)
The pileus is the technical name for the cap, or cap-like part, of a basidiocarp or ascocarp that supports a spore-bearing surface, the hymenium. The hymenium may consist of lamellae, tubes, or teeth, on the underside of the pileus...
is 1 – in diameter, bell-shaped to subumbonate, smooth, and slightly slimy but soon dry. The color may range from a pale orange-brown to a deep rusty brown. It is 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....
, fading to buff; the color is blackish brown when dry, and slightly translucent-striate when wet. Like other hallucinogenic psilocybes, it stains blue when bruised or injured. The gills are adnate in attachment to the stem, or may be notched at the point of attachment (sinuate). They are narrow, and brownish violet to dark violet, with whitish edges. The stem
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 3.5 – tall by 1–3 mm thick, subequal, flexuous, and hollow. The color of the stem is reddish-brown or brownish; it is densely covered with silk-like fibers, and tufts of soft woolly hairs. The veil
Veil (botany)
A veil, in mycology, is one of several structures in fungi, especially the thin membrane that covers the cap and stalk of an immature mushroom.Veils may be regarded as falling into two categories:*Partial veil*Universal veil...
does not form 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...
. The taste of this species has been described as slightly bitter, and the smell slightly farinaceous, like grain.
Microscopic features
The spores have dimensions of (3.8)4.9–5.5(6.6) by (3.3)4.4–5(6.6) by 3.8–4.4 μm, sublentiform (shaped somewhat like a biconvex lens) in face view or roughly elliptic in side view, with an inconspicuous hilar appendage. They have a distinct germ poreGerm pore
A germ pore is a small pore in the outer wall of a fungal spore through which the germ tube exits upon germination. It can be apical or eccentric in its location, and, on light microscopy, may be visualized as a lighter coloured area on the cell wall....
in the base, and are smooth and thick-walled. The basidia, the spore-bearing cells in the hymenium
Hymenium
The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others some cells develop into sterile cells called cystidia or...
, are 12–19 by 4.4–5.5 μm, and hyaline
Hyaline
The term hyaline denotes a substance with a glass-like appearance.-Histopathology:In histopathological medical usage, a hyaline substance appears glassy and pink after being stained with haematoxylin and eosin — usually it is an acellular, proteinaceous material...
. The pleurocystidia (cystidia on the gill face) are 15–29 by 5.5–8.8 μm; clear, gray or brown in color, fusoid-ventricose to mucronate, sometimes with a median constriction, similar to the species Psilocybe subaeruginosa
Psilocybe subaeruginosa
Psilocybe subaeruginosa is a psychedelic mushroom of Australasia, which has psilocybin and psilocin as main active compounds.First reported in 1927, it is placed in the section Cyanescens, which includes Psilocybe cyanescens and Psilocybe maire....
Clel. from Australia. The cheilocystidia (cystidia on the gill edge) are 12–28 by 5.5–7.7 μm, hyaline, very numerous, ventricose, mucronate or fusiform-lanceolate, often forked.
Habitat and distribution
Psilocybe naematoliformis is found growing in small groups, in tufts or clumps, on disturbed places of the virgin tropical rain forest; it grows in soil with a few herbaceousHerbaceous
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
plants. This species was originally found in 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...
, State of Veracruz, Uxpanapa
Uxpanapa
Uxpanapa is a municipality lying in the southeastern part of the state of Veracruz , in Mexico. It is bordered by the municipalities of Jesús Carranza, Hidalgotitlán, Minatitlán, and Las Choapas in Veracruz, as well as Santa María Chimalapa in Oaxaca...
region, and recently in Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, United States. In the United States, P. naematoliformis grows in disturbed habitats that are rich in wood and leaf debris and have a mixture of clay soil with sand. They have also been found growing directly from wood debris that is above the soil. They are often found growing at the base of hills where debris collect after it rains.
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].