Psilocybe subaeruginascens

Psilocybe subaeruginascens is a small, wood-loving psychoactive mushroom in the family Strophariaceae, containing the indole alkaloids psilocybin and psilocin. It has an orange-brown to olive- or greenish-brown conic to convex cap 1 to roughly 6 cm across that is viscid when moist and hygrophanous, fading to dull yellow-orange as it dries. The gills are broadly attached and grayish to dark brown at maturity, and the slender whitish stem carries a persistent membranous ring (annulus); all parts bruise bluish where injured. It is regarded as weakly to moderately active.

History

Psilocybe subaeruginascens was originally described by the mycologist Franz von Höhnel and is treated as the same species as Psilocybe aerugineomaculans. It is a distinctly Asian species, documented from temperate southern Japan and subtropical Indonesia, and is thought to be distributed between those regions. Chemical studies, including work by Koike and colleagues in the early 1980s, confirmed the presence of psilocybin and psilocin, placing it among the bluing, psilocybin-producing Psilocybe.

Overview

Ecologically the mushroom is a decomposer that grows gregariously to clustered on soils enriched with woody debris, in wood chips, and in wood chips mixed with horse dung, often along trails and roadsides bordering deciduous forest. It can fruit in large colonies. The most reliable field traits are the membranous ring on the stem and the prompt bluing of bruised tissue. A critical safety note: it closely resembles the deadly Galerina marginata, which contains lethal amatoxins; the rusty-brown spore deposit and lack of blue bruising distinguish Galerina, but misidentification can be fatal.