Psilocybe (Stropharia) Cubensis - Also known as San Isidro, Lord of
Field and Pasture. The Mazatecs call him the Sacred Dung Mushroom. Isidore
fruits singly or in small groups on dung <flink6.htm> in rich
pasture soil from Spring through Fall. Isidore makes his home in the
tropics and subtropics of Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, Southeastern
United States, South America, Southeastern Asia and Australia. He has also been
spotted in other diverse climatic zones pontificating from many a mason jar.
Isidore is one of the easiest mushrooms to cultivate making him a welcome
companion and teacher to the questing mycologist [...>>]
Psilocybe Azurescens - Also known as Flying Saucer Mushroom is
one of the most potent psilocybe species with a very strong blueing reaction in
which the flesh becomes indigo black. This species has a strong association with
dune grasses, Ammophila maritima in particular, but has also been seen growing
on outdoor beds of deciduous wood chips from California to Vermont.
Psilocybe Semilanceata - Also known as Liberty Cap named after the
Phrygian headgear worn by certain liberators during the French revolution. It
grows in north temperate areas and is quite plentiful on the Emerald Isles of
Ireland where it is commonly referred to as Pookie. It also grows in England as
well as northwest U.S. and British Columbia and has been reported in the
northeastern U.S., St. Petersburg, other parts of Europe, South Africa, Chile,
northern India, Australia, and Tasmania. It fruits in grass particularly in
sedge grass in the damp portions of fields during the Fall but does not grow on
dung like its cousin Isidore.
Panaeolus (Copelandia) Cyanescens - Copelandia occurs on soil and dung
in Florida, Louisiana, Hawaii, Central America, Brazil, the Philipines and
Eastern Australia. It is cultivated on cow and buffalo dung on Bali.
Psilocybe Mexicana - Reported to grow in limestone regions at
elevations between 4,500 and 5,500 feet in southern Mexico and Guatemala. It
fruits from June until October and is found among moss or herbs along roadsides,
humid meadows, cornfields, and also in the neighborhood of deciduous forests.
Psilocybe Mexicana was collected along with other species by the Wassons and
French mycologist Roger Heim during several field trips to Mexico around 1958.
Heim's assistant Roger Cailleux managed to grow this and other species in the
laboratory. Professor Heim sent the dried specimens to Albert Hofmann and his
colleagues Arthur Bracke and Hans Kobel who successfully extracted and
subsequently identified the chemical psychedelics, psilocyn and psilocybin, at
the Sandoz laboratories in Switzerland.
Psilocybe Caerulescens -Also referred to as the Landslide mushroom.
Gordon Wasson's first ingestion of the sacred mushroom consisted of Psilocybe
Caerulescens received at a velada conducted by Maria Sabina in Huatla de
Jimenenez, Mexico on the night of June 29/30, 1955. The Landslide Mushroom can
be found in late spring and summer on disturbed land throughout central Mexico.
It is also reported in Venezuela and Brazil.
Psilocybe Cyanescens -Also referred to as Wavy Cap or Blue Foot. This
mushroom is commonly found in the fall to early winter on wood chip mulch in the
Pacific Northwest. It is also found in the United Kingdom and across temperate
Europe.
Panaeolus Subalteatus -This mushroom grows throughout North America on
dung and well manured grounds in the Spring through the Fall. The cap has a
cinnamon brown band around the edge. It has a blackish purple spore print. It is
widely distributed in North America, South America, Europe, middle Siberia,
Africa, and the Hawaiian archipelago.