Psilocybe cubensis

Bigwood J, Beug MW. (1982). Variation of psilocybin and psilocin levels with repeated flushes (harvests) of mature sporocarps of Psilocybe cubensis (Earle) Singer. J Ethnopharmacoi. 5(3) 287-91. 

I. Hallucinations and illusions—Miscellanea. 2. Psilocybe cubensis—Psychic aspects. 3. Psilocybin. 4. McKenna, Terence K.—Journeys. 5. La Chorrera (Amazonas,... 

Psilocybin can be found in over 100 species of mushrooms in Mexico, Central America, and northwestern and southeastern parts of the United States. Some of the common mushroom varieties are Psilocybe mexicana, Psilocybe cubensis, Psilocybe azure-scens, and Psilocybe cyanescen. Street names include Alice, magic mushrooms, purple passion, sh rooms, and siUy putty. 

Psilocybe cubensis (with 1.5 g, orally) "At best, some speckled patterning with my eyes closed, and in general a light intoxication. Certainly not the sparkle of LSD. Dropped quickly and felt heavy and tired, good sleep."... 

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... 

Since the original publication of this book, there has been a virtual mushroom revolution. Head shops and mail order houses now sell complete kits for home cultivation of Psilocybe cubensis (spores included). The flagrant ignorance of the law-makers is reflected in the fact that in Title 21 the alkaloid psilocin is misspelled as psilocyn. This small error is a product of the same mentality that classified cocaine as a narcotic in the 1922 Amendment to the Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act and deliberately retains the error to this day. 

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... 

The next year Schultes began studies with Dr. Reko in northeastern Oaxaca among the Mazatec Indians. Soon the two heard reports about the existence of mushroom rites in and near the Oaxacan town of Huautla de Jimdnez. They collected specimens of Panaeolus sphinctrinus, which was alleged to be the mushroom chiefly used in the rites. They also collected specimens of Stropharia (or Psilocybe) cubensis, a mushroom of lesser importance according to the native Mazatecs. These specimens remained in the herbarium at Harvard. 

Stropharia (Psilocybe) cubensis, the most popular psilocybian mushroom, contains up to 14 mg./gm. of psilocybin dry weight. The potency of this mushroom varies greatly, however, and deteriorates fairly rapidly over time. 

Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, dried and bagged for future use. 

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). 

Fig. 3. a Pleurotus ostreatus (photographed by G. Martinelli, Dietikon, Switzerland). b Psilocybe cubensis (photographed by A. Helbling). 

Helbling A, Homer WE, Lehrer SB Identification of Psilocybe cubensis spore allergens by irrrmunoprinting. Int Arch Allergy Immunol 1993 100 263-267. 

Reese G, Homer WE, Lehrer SB Basidiomycete allergens. Characterization of epitopes with monoclonal antibodies raised against Psilocybe cubensis spore extract in Kraft D, Sehon A (eds) Molecrrlar Biology and Irrrmunology of Allergens. Boca Raton, CRC Press, 1993, pp 275—277. 

Homer WE, Reese G, Lehrer SB Identification of the allergen Psi c 2 from the basidiomycete Psilocybe cubensis as a fungal cyclophilin. Int Arch Allergy Irrrmunol 1995 107 298-300. 

Since the late 1970s this situation has changed. In the first place, psilocybin mushrooms have been found in great numbers in many parts of the world.,One of the principal species, called Psilocybe cubensis, is a large mushroom that grows in cow pastures in warm climates. It occurs in Southeast Asia, in Central... 

Psilocybe cubensis growing in cultivation on grain. (Jeremy Bigwood ... 

At an archaeological site in the Non Nak Tha region of northern Thailand, the bones of Bos indicus cattle were recently unearthed in conjunction with human remains. We know that Psilocybe cubensis flourishes in the manure of cattle in this region of Thailand. Terence McKenna has suggested that the temporal and physical relationship between the human bones and the bones of cattle is conclusive evidence that psychoactive mushrooms were known to the people who frequented this region around 15,000 B.C.E. (McKenna 1992). He suggested that the consumption of these types of mushrooms provided a certain impetus to humanity s intellectual evolution. 

Various stages of the growth and development of Psilocybe cubensis, a species common in manure, with a worldwide distribution. (Photo by John W. Allen)... 

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