Each unique psychedelic plant species differs in terms of its geographic prevalence, its ideal growth conditions, and even its subjective psychotropic effects. Below, Analytical Cannabis takes a look at five of the most well-known and prevalent psychedelic mushroom species around the world. Psilocybe cubensis. Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms are the archetypal psychedelic mushroom.
Unlike other members of the Psilocybe genus that thrive naturally on lichenous substrates , P. As a result, P. As such, the species has spread from its natural habitat in the tropics to be cultivated indoors by growers the world over.
There are significant differences in appearance between P. In contrast, Penis Envy, a particularly potent and brazenly named strain of P. As a result of this intensive genetic isolation, the Penis Envy strain has extremely thick stems get it?
As to be expected with a species that has so many different strain variants, it is impossible to neatly sum up the type of psychedelic experiences that come with using these mushrooms. Adding to the complexity, most of the scientific research relating to psychedelic mushrooms tends to use synthetic psilocybin, and so it is equally challenging to verify the experiences that are reported by users. Psilopedia , an online encyclopedia of psychedelic mushroom strains, reports that the Penis Envy strain tends to be associated with feelings of intense euphoria.
Other well-known strains, such as Golden Teacher and Hultua, are reportedly well-known for their ability to induce spiritual or mystical experiences. Although most psychedelics research opts to use synthetic psilocybin, there are still a number of active researchers who are specifically interested in investigating P.
Earlier this year, Medicinal Genomics published a highly contiguous reference genome for the mushroom, which the team hopes will inform more research into the genes of interest and pathways responsible for producing psilocybin. As we stood around the fire pit, the warm light flickering across our faces while our dinner sizzled in its pan, Stamets talked about what mushrooms have taught him about nature.
He was expansive, eloquent, grandiose, and, at times, in acute danger of slipping the surly bonds of plausibility. I think they have a consciousness and are constantly trying to direct our evolution by speaking out to us biochemically. We just need to be better listeners.
What strikes me about both Stamets and many of the so-called Romantic scientists like Humboldt and Goethe, Joseph Banks, Erasmus Darwin, and, I would include, Thoreau is how very much more alive nature seems in their hands than it would soon become in the cooler hands of the professionals.
These moves subtly changed the object of study—indeed, made it more of an object. Instead of seeing nature as a collection of discrete objects, the Romantic scientists—and I include Stamets in their number—saw a densely tangled web of subjects, each acting on the other in the great dance that would come to be called coevolution.
I suspect that imaginative leap has become harder for us moderns to make. Our science and technology encourage us in precisely the opposite direction, toward the objectification of nature and of all species other than our own.
Surely we need to acknowledge the practical power of this perspective, which has given us so much, but we should at the same time acknowledge its costs, material as well as spiritual.
Yet that older, more enchanted way of seeing may still pay dividends, as it does to cite just one small example when it allows Paul Stamets to figure out that the reason honeybees like to visit woodpiles is to medicate themselves, by nibbling on a saprophytic mycelium that produces just the right antimicrobial compound that the hive needs to survive, a gift the fungus is trading for Something yet to be imagined.
You are probably wondering what ever happened to the azzies Stamets and I found that weekend. Many months later, in the middle of a summer week spent in the house in New England where we used to live, a place freighted with memories, I ate them, with my wife Judith.
Judith and I each drank half a cup, ingesting both the liquid and the crumbles of mushroom. I suggested we take a walk on the dirt road near our house while we waited for the psilocybin to come on.
She told me her mind and her body seemed to be drifting apart and then that her mind had flown out of her head and up into the trees, like a bird or insect. I tried to reassure her as we abruptly turned around and picked up our pace. It was hot and the air was thick with humidity. I was a little worried about her, but once she reached her base on the living room couch, her mood lightened and she said she was fine.
I went out and sat on the screened porch for a while, listening to the sounds in the garden, which suddenly grew very loud, as if the volume had been turned way up.
The air was stock-still, but the desultory sounds of flying insects and the digital buzz of hummingbirds rose to form a cacophony I had never heard before. It began to grate on my nerves, until I decided I would be better off regarding the sound as beautiful, and then all at once it was.
Whenever I closed my eyes, random images erupted as if the insides of my lids were a screen. My notes record: fractal patterns, tunnels plunging through foliage, ropy vines forming grids.
But when I started to feel panic rise at the lack of control I had over my visual field, I discovered that all I needed to do to restore a sense of semi-normality was to open my eyes. To open or close my eyes was like changing the channel. I thought, I am learning how to manage this experience. Much happened, or seemed to happen, during the course of that August afternoon, but I want to focus here on just one element of the experience, because it bears on the questions of nature and our place in it that psilocybin seems to provoke, at least for me.
I decided I wanted to walk out to my writing house, a little structure I had built myself 25 years ago, in what is now another life, and which holds a great many memories. In nature, P. The caps tend to be caramel colored and sit atop a pale, thin stem. When psilocybin comes into contact with the air, a chemical reaction occurs that changes its color. This is why, when observed in the wild, psilocybin-containing fungi will bruise a blue or purple hue.
Generally the darker the bruising, the more psilocybin content within the fungi. Psilocybe azurescens bruises a very dark blue, bordering on black. Mycologists have described its bruising as rich and heavy. Trust us, we would if we could. In order to harvest its spores in a legally accredited mycology laboratory, it would have to be artificially grown at some point. Psilocybe azurescens is notoriously difficult to cultivate and you also need to pay attention to the laws in the magic mushrooms legal states.
It makes the easiest Psilocybe cubensis strain to grow look like an absolute walk in the park— azurescens has strict needs in terms of temperature and substrate. Unlike spores from cubensis fungi, azurescens spores are very hard to come by. Caution is advised when picking this variety of shroom though, as they bear a striking resemblance to quite a few poisonous mushroom species that grow in similar conditions.
When consumed Liberty Caps will give a slightly stronger high than Cubensis with doses up to 2. Psilocybe cubensis.
Strains of Psilocybe cubensis are the most commonly consumed Magic Mushroom in the world. The popularity is driven by the ease at which they can be cultivated and the fact that they can be grown indoors very easily using a mushroom grow kit , like ours! Cubensis shrooms can be found growing in the wild all across the world in the Southern US, Central America, and Mexico.
The cultivated indoor samples typically have a higher psilocybin content than those found in natural settings. When found in the wild, Cubensis mushrooms often grow at field edges and prefer to live in well-manured soil. Fruiting is at its highest during the spring and summer, with some still popping up in the later Autumn months too. Cubensis mushrooms are the most majestic of Psilocybe and are easy to recognize due to their golden cap color and large size.
Once handled they may display a blueish tint as the psilocin oxidizes. Cubensis caps are generally bigger than other Psilocybe species and will widen as the mushroom matures with age. When dried the Cubensis will give a moderate high in doses up to 3 grams, with higher amounts leading to more intense experiences.
Magic mushrooms have been a healing medicine for thousands of years. Recently 'modern' science started to take notice of the benefits from microdosing psilocybin. These most potent, most magical mushrooms are a viable method of improving our mental health and resilience.
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