Liberty Caps

A number of mushrooms, liberty cap (psilocybe), psilocybin, fly agaric, Amantia muscaria and the peyote cactus contain hallucinogenic agents. They are usually eaten raw but can be dried out and stored or cooked into food or made into a tea and drunk. The effects are highly variable and whereas 20-30 liberty caps would be required to give a full dose, just one fly agaric mushroom would produce similar actions. Some recent local surveys in the UK have found between 12% and 15% of 16-year-olds claiming to have used these at least once. 

Like LSD, tolerance develops very rapidly so the next day it might take twice as many liberty caps to repeat the experience and so most users only use mushrooms occasionally. Physical dependence and withdrawal symptoms do not result from regular use though some people may become psychologically dependent and feel a desire to use on a regular basis. At present there is no evidence of serious health damage from longterm use. 

OFFICIAL NAMES Psilocybin, Psilocybe mushrooms STREET NAMES Magic mushrooms, shrooms, boomers, caps, cubes (Psilocybe cubensis), fungus, liberty caps, Mexican mushrooms, mushies, mushrooms, psychedelic mushrooms, psilocydes, purple passion, sillies, silly putty, simple Simon DRUG CLASSIFICATIONS Schedule I, hallucinogen... 

Jackpot see Fentanyl Jativa-M. see Salvia divinorum Jelly baby see Amphetamines Jet see Ketamine PCP (phencyclidine) Jet fuel see PCP (phencyclidine) Jolt see GBL Joy plant see Opium Jugs see Amphetamines Juice see Alcohol Steroids Junk see Steroids Leapers see Amphetamines Legal E see BenzylpiperazinelTrifluoromethylphenyl-piperazine Legal steroid see Creatine Legal X see BenzylpiperazinelTrifluoromethylphenyl-piperazine Lemon 714 see PCP (phencyclidine) Lemon fX drops see GHB Lethal weapon see PCP (phencyclidine) Liberty caps see Psilocybin Librium see Benzodiazepine... 

Spore Prints and Preparation, 248 Stropharia (Psilocybe) cubensis (San Isidro), 250 Psilocybe semilanceata (Liberty Caps), 253 Panaeolus subbalteatus (benanosis), 256 Psilocybe cyanescens (Wavy Caps, Blue Halos), 257 Psilocybe baeocystis, 258 Pilocybe stuntzii, 260... 

Psilocybe semilanceata (Liberty Caps), a favorite in coastal temperate zones, are potent in psilocybin-—averaging around 11 mg./gm. dry weight—which is stable. 

Psilocybe pelliculosa, another psilocybian specks that many people confuse with Liberty Caps, contains psilocybin and the same analogues but has only half the potency of Liberty Caps. This one can be easily distinguished by habitat. Rather than in cow fields, it grows on sawdust or wood chip piles in forested areas where lumberjacks have been working. It doesn t display the indrawn edge to its cap that is evident in Liberty Caps, and often its stem and cap edge darken with age. 

Some people have observed that mushrooms containing both psilocybin and psilocin tend to lose their psychoactivity fairly rapidly, whereas those lacking psilocin tend to have a long shelf life. Liberty Caps have no psilocin, but they do contain psilocybin analogues. Specimens collected and analyzed in 1976 were reanalyzed after four years on a shelf without refrigeration. They were found to be almost as potent. 

Most Liberty Caps do not blue, but some do so heavily. At this point, we don t know whether the latter are another species. Some mushrooms recently collected are quite similar in appearance to Ps. semilanceata and inhabit the same cow fields. These may be variants or other new species of those that look like Liberty Caps and grow on pastures, none is poisonous. (A recently discovered psilocybian mushroom that is similar is known as Ps. linaformens and is common in Europe and Oregon, where it too is often called a "Liberty Cap. )... 

This mushroom contains psilocybin, psilocin and at least four analogues. It blues markedly when bruised and is less stable than Liberty Caps. It isn t... 

Psilocybin (4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) is a psychedelic indole, as is its active metabolite, psilocin. It is found in about 200 species of fungi, including those of the genus Psilocybe, such as Psilocybe semilanceata (the liberty cap) and Psilocybe cubensis (golden top or golden cap), also called magic mushrooms or simply shrooms (1). 

Psilocybe semilanceata is known as the "liberty cap mushroom. It is the most common species sought after by psilophorian enthusiasts for its tranquil effects. 

We collected a large number of "liberty caps" in a pasture near Astoria. Later on, back... 

As in Great Britain, the mushroom is referred to as "Liberty Cap" in the United States. 

Psilocybe baeocystis primarily grows in inland areas of the Pacific Northwest, on top of wood debris and on lawns in parks. It is a species that can often be found and collected on school and university campuses. Psilocybe pelliculosa, a mushroom mentioned in previous chapters, is a species also known as "Liberty Cap". Macroscopically, it is extremely difficult to distinguish Ifom Psilocybe semilanceata. Unlike the latter species, however, Psilocybe pelliculosa will grow in forests on wood chips and sawdust. 

Contrary to common opinion, "liberty cap" is not a new name, since M.C. Cooke mentioned it in his writings that date back to the 19th century. 

Carter, M. (1976). Will the legal Liberty Cap cause home office hallucinations New Scientist, 16 Sept., 59. 

Weil, A T. (1975). Mushroom hunting in Oregon 3 On the trail of the Liberty Cap. Journal of Psychedelic Drugs, 7, 96-102. White, P.C. (1979). Analysis of extracts from Psilocybe semilanceata by high-pressure liquid... 

Color photo of a group of liberty caps growing in a clump of grass. 

Psilocybin (4-phosphoryloxy-iV,A -dimethyltryptamine) (9.31) and the parent alcohol, psilocin, were first isolated from the Mexican mushroom Psilocybe mexicana by Hofmann in 1959. Since then these hallucinogenic metabolites have been reported in more than 30 species of this genus and its relatives. The highest concentration (over 0.5% dry weight) of psilocybin has been detected in Conocybe cyanopus and Psilocybe semilanceata. The hallucinogenic properties of these organisms have led to their colloquial name as magic mushrooms . P. semilanceata, which is quite widespread in Europe, is sometimes known as the Liberty Cap. A biosynthetic sequence from tryptophan to psilocybin has been established. 

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