Botany

     .-'~~~-.
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  :~~~-.oOo   o`.      On whom the dew of heaven drops now and then."
   `. \ ~-.  oOOo.           - John Ford
     `.; / ~.  OO:
     .'  ;-- `.o.'
    ,' ; ~~--'~
    ;  ;               [ASCII stolen from Mescalito Ted]
_\\;_\\//_

Psilocybe mushrooms are:

• kingdom Protista, division Fungi, class Basidiomycetes, order Stropharia, families Bolbitiaceae, Coprinaceae, Cortinariaceae, Pluteaceae, and Strophariaceae
• basidiomycotina or -mycetes - Fungi that produce spores on stalks outside the terminal cells.
• agaricales - mushrooms with cap & gills;

Commonly used species:

• Panaeolus sphinctrinus, subbalteatus (benanosis)
• Psilocybe baeocystis, caerulescens, cyanescens, mexicana, pelliculosa, semilanceata, stuntzii
• Stropharia (Psilocybe) cubensis

• Agrocybe farinacea
• Boletus erythropus, manicus, migroviolaceus, niggerimus, kumaeus, reayi [all (@)]
• Conocybe cyanopus, kuehneriana (*), siligineoides (?), smithii
• Copelandia anomala, bispora, cambodginiensis, cyanescens, tropicalis
• Coprinus niveus, patouillardii, narcoticus
• Galerina steglichii
• Gymnopilus aeruginosus, liquiritiae, luteus, purpuratus, spectabilis, validipes, viridans
• Inocybe aeruginascens, coelestium, corydalna, haemacta, tricolor
• Lepiota peele
• Panaeolina foenisecii (%)
• Panaeolus acuminatus, antillarum, ater, cambodginiensis, campanulatus, chlorocystis, foenisecii, firmicola, olivaceus, papilionaceus, retirugis, separatus, tropicalis
• Pholiotina cyanapoda
• Pluteus atricapillus (%), nigroviridis, salicinus
• Psathyrella candolleana, gracilis, sepulchralis
• (Almost) all Psilocybe species

(*) Contains only psilocin.
(%) Contains only psilocybin.
(?) Contains unidentified tryptamines (probably psilocin/psilocybin).
(@) Contains unidentified hallucinogens (possibly psilocin/psilocybin). The Boletus genus is very large and very few of them are hallucinogenic; some are known to be poisonous.

Inclusion on this list does not mean the psilocin/psilocybin content is sufficient for psychotropic activity in practical amounts, for example one would need to eat around a thousand Pluteus atricapillus to get off.

The following hallucinogenic species contain not psilocin/psilocybin but atropine, bufotenine, muscimol and similar nasties:

• Amanita citrine, formosa, mappa, muscaria (*), pantherina , porphyria, regalis, tomentella
• Pholiota squarrosa

(*) The famed "Fly Agaric" red toadstool with white warts.

Amanita species cause 95% of all deaths from mushroom poisoning. The ones above are (reasonably) safe, the danger lies in correct identification. Death by Amanita poisoning is reportedly an excruciating way to die, since they nuke your liver and the body's own wastes then kill you. Worse yet, the effects only start 3 days after ingestion, and by then it's too late. I would seriously recommend against toying with these; most reports say they're not even fun. If you insist, consult other sources for more information.