Psilocybe plutonia is a small 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, believed to contain 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...

. It was first documented from Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

. An older synonym is Agaricus plutonia.

It is in the section Cordisporae.

Etymology

The word plutonia comes from the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 words plutonian or plutonic. Perhaps in connection with the dark color of the mushroom.

Description

• Pileus
  Pileus (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...
  
  : 0.5–1.5 cm in diameter, conic to convex, with an acute umbo or papilla
  Plant cuticle
  Plant cuticles are a protective waxy covering produced only by the epidermal cells of leaves, young shoots and all other aerial plant organs without periderm...
  
  , not viscid, glabrous, slightly translucent-striate, silky white fibrils when young that fade in age, 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....
  
  , lubricous, reddish brown to yellowish brown or clay color, becoming blackish. Flesh thin, brownish.
• Gills: Adnexed, sometimes with a decurrent tooth, thin, light brown to dark brown, blackish in age, edges pallid.
• Spores: Purple brown in deposit, rhomboid or subrhomboid in face view, , thick-walled, with a broad truncate germ pore.
• 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...
  
  : (1.8)2.5–4(5) cm long, 0.5–1.5 mm equal to slightly enlarged at the base, flexuous, hollow, dark brown or reddish brown, apex pruinose, zoned with appressed whitish fibrils. No 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...
  
   is formed by the cortinate veil.
• Taste: Unknown.
• Odor: None to slightly farinaceous.
• Microscopic features: Basidia 11–17 µm, pleurocystidia 17–26 µm, cheilocystidia .

Habitat and distribution

Psilocybe plutonia may be found growing solitary or gregarious, from late June through February, on rotted wood or in soil with woody material, in tropical forests, from Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

, Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

 and most recently in 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...

, often near sea level or in lower elevations, although widely distributed, it is not found often.

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].