gold caps

Description:

location: North America edibility: Hallucinogenic fungus colour: White to cream, Brown normal size: 5-15cm cap type: Conical or nearly so stem type: Ring on stem flesh: Flesh discolours when cut, bruised or damaged spore colour: Purplish to black habitat: Grows on plant material/manure Psilocybe cubensis (Earle) Singer Cap 1.5-9cm across, broadly conical to bel-shaped, becoming convex and flatter with an umbo, the margin sometimes with hanging veil remnants; white with a yellowish or brownish center, becoming entirely yellowish buff to yellowish brown, bruising and aging bluish; sticky when moist then dry, smooth or some small, whitish veil remnants when young. Gills adnate, close, narrow; gray becoming deep purple-gray to almost black, edges whitish. Stem 40-150 x 4-15mm, often enlarged toward the base; white or yellowish, bruising blue or bluish green; smooth, grooved at the top; membranous partial veil leaves a persistent white ring on the upper stalk which is blackened by the falling spores. Flesh firm; white, bruising bluish green. Spores ellipsoid, smooth, with a distinct pore at the tip, 11-17 x 7-12µ. Deposit purple-brown. Habitat singly or in groups on horse dung or cow manure in cattle pastures. Common. Found in the Gulf Coast states and in central America. Season nearly all year. Edibility suspect - strongly hallucinogenic, possibly poisonous. Photographed by Greg Wright ( http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/D... )

Habitat:

There are more than 180 species of mushrooms which contain the psychedelics psilocybin or psilocin. They have a long history of use in Mexico and are currently one of the most popular and commonly available natural psychedelics ( http://www.erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/ ) -------- LegalityEdit - -Although it is illegal in many nations to possess psilocybin containing mushrooms , it is legal in several places to own and sell spores. In the United States only the psychoactive compounds are scheduled under federal law. The spores do not contain either (but possession is prohibited by state law in Georgia, California. Many have questioned the constitutionality of these laws, as the religious significance of psilocybin containing mushrooms is clear ( http://mycology.wikia.com/wiki/Psilocybe... )

Notes:

Many mushrooms can be cultivated at home, Take a look at "Let's Grow Mushrooms! by Marc R Keith" ( http://www.mushroomvideos.com/ ), from oyster [pic 3-4],Agaricus bisporus to psilocybe cubensis [pic 1-2] and more. ( http://www.mycobank.org/MycoTaxo.aspx?Li... ), ----------According to the determination tables of the twentieth century (i.e. before the development of genetic fingerprinting) one of the key features to distinguish the mushroom genus Agrocybe from Psilocybe was the color of the spores. Psilocybe mushrooms have dark violet, almost black spores while Agrocybe spores are of a rusty brown ('fawn') color. These pictures show the weakness in the classification of mushrooms along the lines of macroscopic features. Shown are the gills and the spores of the 'Psylocybe Fanaticus' redspore cubensis, compared to the spores and gills of a 'PF Classic' Psilocybe cubensis. The redspore is a mutation of the PF Classic mushroom which appeared in Psylocybe Fanaticus' lab (I believe it was somewhere in 1996). Robert 'Billy' McPherson (aka 'Psylocybe Fanaticus'), planned to release the new cubensis variety in the spring of 2003 along with the long awaited 2003 edition of the PF TEK book. Unfortunately the US Government decided to terminate the company www.fanaticus.com on February 18th 2003. During the raid, most of PF's unique collection of cubensis genotypes was seized and later destroyed ( http://www.erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/m... )