Psilocybe baeocystis
Encyclopedia
Psilocybe baeocystis is a psilocybin mushroom
of the Strophariaceae
family
, it contains the hallucinogenic compounds psilocybin
, psilocin
and baeocystin
.
The species is commonly known by various names such as bottle caps, knobby tops, blue bells, olive caps. There is some evidence to suggest it is synonymous with Psilocybe aztecorum.
is 1.5–5.5 cm in diameter and conic to obtusely conic to convex. The cap margin is turned inwards when young, rarely becoming plane in age, often distinctly rippled, translucent-striate and bruising and aging greenish-bluish about the margin. It is dark olive brown to buff brown in color, occasionally steel blue; when dried it tends toward copper brown in the center. It is hygrophanous
, fading to milk white, and viscid when moist from a gelatinous pellicle
, usually separable. The flesh is thin and bruises blue easily.
s are dark purplish brown in deposit, oblong in face view or asymmetric ellipsoid (mango form) in side view, and are (8.5) 9.5–13.7(17) x (5) 5.5–6.6(7.1) µm.
is 5–7 cm long, 2–3 mm thick, and equal to subequal. The color is pallid to brownish with white filaments, while often more yellowish towards the apex. Distinct rhizomorph
s are found at the base. The stipe is brittle, stuffed with loose fibers, and the partial veil
is evanescent and rapidly becomes indistinguishable. It stains blue easily where damaged.
This species is closely related to the subtropical P. aztecorum var. aztecorum, which also bleaches in color to white when dry.
and Psilocybe cyanescens
.
mushroom, common throughout the Pacific Northwest
. It was found in Maine
in November 2007 and is reported to have been found in Connecticut
also.
was first reported in this species in Benedict et al., 1962, and a few years later, Leung and Paul would report the related compound baeocystin
, isolated from saprophytic culture, as well as the demethyl analogue norbaeocystin
. Beug and Bigwood (1981) also reported on the concentrations of these compounds in Psilocybe baeocystis using reverse-phase HPLC and thin-layer chromatography. Concentration ranges for psychoactive compounds from these studies were reported to be 0.15–0.85% psilocybin, up to 0.59% psilocin, and up to 0.10% baeocystin.
, other members of the section include Psilocybe aztecorum var. aztecorum, Psilocybe aztecorum var. bonetii, Psilocybe pseudoaztecorum
, and Psilocybe quebecensis
.
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
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...
, it contains the hallucinogenic compounds 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...
, 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...
and baeocystin
Baeocystin
Baeocystin is a mushroom alkaloid and analog of the psychedelic hallucinogenic drug psilocybin, a tryptamine derivative. It is found as a minor compound in most psychoactive mushrooms together with psilocybin, norbaeocystin, and psilocin...
.
The species is commonly known by various names such as bottle caps, knobby tops, blue bells, olive caps. There is some evidence to suggest it is synonymous with Psilocybe aztecorum.
Etymology and history
- From the Greek words baeo (little) and kystis (bladder).
- 1945 P. baeocystis is first collected in Eugene, OregonEugene, OregonEugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
. - 1958 P. baeocystis is formally described and published by Singer and Smith.
- 1962 PsilocinPsilocinPsilocin , 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...
is first reported in this species. - 1967-68 BaeocystinBaeocystinBaeocystin is a mushroom alkaloid and analog of the psychedelic hallucinogenic drug psilocybin, a tryptamine derivative. It is found as a minor compound in most psychoactive mushrooms together with psilocybin, norbaeocystin, and psilocin...
and norbaeocystinNorbaeocystinNorbaeocystin is a mushroom alkaloid and analog of the psychedelic hallucinogenic drug psilocybin. It is found as a minor compound in most psilocybin mushrooms together with psilocin, psilocybin and baeocystin....
are discovered and named. - 1981 Testing again reveals psilocybinPsilocybinPsilocybin 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...
, psilocinPsilocinPsilocin , 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...
, baeocystinBaeocystinBaeocystin is a mushroom alkaloid and analog of the psychedelic hallucinogenic drug psilocybin, a tryptamine derivative. It is found as a minor compound in most psychoactive mushrooms together with psilocybin, norbaeocystin, and psilocin...
and norbaeocystinNorbaeocystinNorbaeocystin is a mushroom alkaloid and analog of the psychedelic hallucinogenic drug psilocybin. It is found as a minor compound in most psilocybin mushrooms together with psilocin, psilocybin and baeocystin....
.
Cap
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 1.5–5.5 cm in diameter and conic to obtusely conic to convex. The cap margin is turned inwards when young, rarely becoming plane in age, often distinctly rippled, translucent-striate and bruising and aging greenish-bluish about the margin. It is dark olive brown to buff brown in color, occasionally steel blue; when dried it tends toward copper brown in the center. 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 milk white, and 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...
, usually separable. The flesh is thin and bruises blue easily.
Gills
The gills are close with adnate to sinuate attachment and are grayish to cinnamon brown, with the edges remaining pallid.Spores
Psilocybe baeocystis sporeSpore
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 purplish brown in deposit, oblong in face view or asymmetric ellipsoid (mango form) in side view, and are (8.5) 9.5–13.7(17) x (5) 5.5–6.6(7.1) µm.
Stipe
The stipeStipe (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 5–7 cm long, 2–3 mm thick, and equal to subequal. The color is pallid to brownish with white filaments, while often more yellowish towards the apex. Distinct rhizomorph
Mycelial cord
Mycelial cords are linear aggregations of parallel-oriented hyphae. The mature cords are composed of wide, empty vessel hyphae surrounded by narrower sheathing hyphae...
s are found at the base. The stipe is brittle, stuffed with loose fibers, and the partial veil
Partial veil
thumb|150px|right|Developmental stages of [[Agaricus campestris]] showing the role and evolution of a partial veilPartial veil is a mycological term used to describe a temporary structure of tissue found on the fruiting bodies of some basidiomycete fungi, typically agarics...
is evanescent and rapidly becomes indistinguishable. It stains blue easily where damaged.
Microscopic features
The basidia are 4-spored, and pleurocystidia are absent. The cheilocystidia are 20–30(40) x 4.5–6(9) µm and fusiod with a narrow neck.This species is closely related to the subtropical P. aztecorum var. aztecorum, which also bleaches in color to white when dry.
Habitat
Psilocybe baeocystis is solitary to cespitose, and scattered to numerous on ground bark, wood chips, peat moss, decaying conifer mulch, occasionally on lawns, pastures, and rarely in coniferous forests. Often found growing under plants like rhododendrons and rose bushes in mulched garden beds, sometimes growing amongst other Psilocybe species such as Psilocybe stuntziiPsilocybe stuntzii
Psilocybe stuntzii, also known as Stuntz's Blue legs and Blue Ringers it is a psilocybin mushroom of the Strophariaceae family, having psilocybin andpsilocin as main active compounds....
and Psilocybe cyanescens
Psilocybe cyanescens
Psilocybe cyanescens is a species of potent psychedelic mushroom. The main compounds responsible for its psychedelic effects are psilocybin and psilocin. It belongs to the family Strophariaceae...
.
Season
Psilocybe baeocystis grows from August through December, and rarely as early as the end of June.Distribution
Psilocybe baeocystis is a hemiborealHemiboreal
Hemiboreal means halfway between the temperate and subarctic zones. The term is most frequently used in the context of ecosystems.-Botany:...
mushroom, common throughout the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
. It was found in Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
in November 2007 and is reported to have been found in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
also.
Biochemistry
PsilocinPsilocin
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...
was first reported in this species in Benedict et al., 1962, and a few years later, Leung and Paul would report the related compound baeocystin
Baeocystin
Baeocystin is a mushroom alkaloid and analog of the psychedelic hallucinogenic drug psilocybin, a tryptamine derivative. It is found as a minor compound in most psychoactive mushrooms together with psilocybin, norbaeocystin, and psilocin...
, isolated from saprophytic culture, as well as the demethyl analogue norbaeocystin
Norbaeocystin
Norbaeocystin is a mushroom alkaloid and analog of the psychedelic hallucinogenic drug psilocybin. It is found as a minor compound in most psilocybin mushrooms together with psilocin, psilocybin and baeocystin....
. Beug and Bigwood (1981) also reported on the concentrations of these compounds in Psilocybe baeocystis using reverse-phase HPLC and thin-layer chromatography. Concentration ranges for psychoactive compounds from these studies were reported to be 0.15–0.85% psilocybin, up to 0.59% psilocin, and up to 0.10% baeocystin.
Classification
This mushroom has been placed in the section Aztecorum by Gaston GuzmanGastón 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....
, other members of the section include Psilocybe aztecorum var. aztecorum, Psilocybe aztecorum var. bonetii, Psilocybe pseudoaztecorum
Psilocybe pseudoaztecorum
Psilocybe pseudoaztecorum is a species of mushroom in the Strophariaceae family....
, and Psilocybe quebecensis
Psilocybe quebecensis
Psilocybe quebecensis is a moderately active hallucinogenic mushroom in the section Aztecorum, having psilocybin and psilocin as main active compounds. Native to Quebec, it is the most northern known psilocybin mushroom....
.