Psilocybian mushrooms

It was not surprising that the ceremony was very similar to those involving psilocybian mushrooms that Wasson... 

Cluster 4 Psilocybian Mushrooms, the easily identified, gently persuasive and yet powerfully mind-changing fungi containing psilocybin and/or psilocin that re-introduced an appreciation of psychedelic effects in the late 1970s... 

Distributes Psilocybin to Researchers, 237 The Harvard Psilocybin Research Project, 239 Use of Psilocybian Mushrooms Increases, 244... 

Psilocybin and psilocin molecules are the primary psychedelic agents in the psychoactive mushrooms known so far, but four related molecules may in some way contribute to the mental effects. The term "psilocybian mushrooms has been proposed to include all of the dozens of species containing psilocybin it will be used in that sense here. Quite distinct isoxazolic molecules are present in the Amanita muscaria (Fly Agaric) and Amanita pantherina (Panther Caps) mushroom species, which are said by some people to create psychedelic states. 

Scores of psilocybian mushrooms are of special interest nowadays, thanks mainly to the investigations of one couple R. Gordon Wasson and Valentina Pavlovna Wasson. These two individuals were essential to the discovery that the largest natural production of psychedelics occurs in mushrooms. This revelation—quite as serendipitous as Flofmanris discovery of... 

For millenia, psilocybian mushrooms were used by native Americans, living mainly in Central America but also as far south as Chile. These original mushroom users left few records, but they did establish a tradition of psychedelic mushroom use. 

Valentina Pavlovna Wasson, who co-initiated ethnomycology, and was the first white woman to try psilocybian mushrooms. 

For all that, the Wassons were still the primary investigators of psilocybian mushrooms. They mobilized an impressive array of interested parties... 

Starting in 1974, a group of a dozen people in the San Francisco Bay Area began experimenting with various techniques for growing psilocybian mushrooms, hoping to find a simple procedure for cultivation that would work for the users themselves. They had already grown several Banisteriopsis species and the San Pedro cactus in a search for a natural psychedelic that... 

When the Wassons asked their Indian guide about the source of mushrooms, he replied, "The little mushroom comes of itself, no one knows whence, like the wind that comes we know not whence nor why. Actually, psilocybian mushrooms begin as microscopic spores that grow on the tip of cells near the mushrooms gills, called basidia. After maturing, they are dispersed by the wind. 

Notes made about the mushrooms habitat often give valuable clues to identification of psilocybian mushrooms, as does a "spore print. This can be made by placing one specimen s cap on a sheet of white paper and, if possible, another on black paper. These mushroom caps should then be covered by a glass and left alone for several hours, until it becomes clear whether or not they are dark purple-brown. The remainder of the collection should be refrigerated (but not frozen) as soon as possible, because mushrooms deteriorate fairly rapidly in heat. They can be preserved in the vegetable bin of a refrigerator weU over a week. 

Some psilocybian mushrooms reveal a striking blue color characteristic in fresh specimens this can aid in identification along with other traits, such as spore color and size, appearance of die gills, etc. When these mushrooms are scratched or bruised by handling, they stain blue or, if the surface color is yellowish, greenish blue. Some of these mushrooms exhibit this stain naturally, perhaps because of the heat of the sun or the pressure of raindrops. 

Harvested psilocybian mushrooms can be eaten fresh, or they can be dried, sealed and stored. The best procedure is to dry the mushrooms in a freeze-drier without heat. For most users, this is impossible, so a lamp or oven can do, as long as there is ventilation and the temperature does not exceed 90° F. in a dry atmosphere. (If you use an oven, leave the door cracked open.) A space heater can also be used. Whatever the means, the drying takes at least twenty to twenty-four hours and leaves the mushrooms in a brittle state. 

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. 

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. )... 

Panaeolus subbaltearus, a species seen commonly throughout North America and many parts of the world, contains low to moderate amounts of psilocybin. It is among the few psilocybian mushrooms that fruit in the spring. 

Psilocybe cyanescens, a large species with an undulating caramel-colored cap, is the most potent psilocybian mushroom, detected anywhere. It fruits prolifically from fall through winter in the Pacific Northwest. 

Psilocybe baeocystis inhabits areas with bark and wood chips and is prevalent throughout the Pacific Northwest. Its psychoactivity is usually weak but in some instances rivals that of the strongest psilocybian mushrooms. 

Another psilocybian mushroom that also blues and has characteristics similar to Ps. baeocystis and Ps. cyanescens is Ps. cyanafiberlosa. It was originally collected between patches of the first two. This one has somewhat wavy caps like Ps. cyanescens, although they don t open up nearly so much, and the same chemical components as the others. It s normally weaker than Ps. baeocystis, often containing about 1.3 mg. of both psilocybin and psilocin/ gm. dry weight. 

---