Deconica montana, commonly known as the mountain moss psilocybe, is a common species of mushroom. Its appearance is that of a typical "little brown mushroom" with a small, brown cap and a straight, thin stipe. It usually grows in mossy and montane regions around the world.
Psilocybe montana was formerly the type species of the mushroom genus Psilocybe.[1] Because it does not contain hallucinogenictryptamine derivatives like psilocybin or psilocin,[2][3] it does not stain blue when handled, unlike other typical hallucinogenic members of this genus. Molecular studies in the late 2000s revealed that the genus was polyphyletic and consisted of two distinct clades separating the blueing species from the non-blueing species.[4][5][6] Dividing the genus is problematic as the name Psilocybe was attached to P.montana and consequently to the non-blueing clade, leaving the hallucinogenic species without a generic name. Because the name is widely associated with the hallucinogenic species and considering the potential legal ramifications of changing their generic name, a proposal was made to conserve the name Psilocybe with P.semilanceata as the type. This left Deconica available as a name for the non-blueing species.[7] The proposal was unanimously accepted by the Nomenclature Committee for Fungi in 2009.[8]
Description
The cap is 0.5–2cm in diameter, dome-shaped then convex or somewhat flat,[9] sometimes with a broad umbo. The cap is moist, glabrous, hygrophanous, and has radial striations to the center; the color is reddish-brown[10] to dark-brown. The gills are adnate to broadly adnate or sometimes very shortly decurrent, and of the same color as the cap. The stipe is 1.5–4cm long, 1–2mm thick, smooth, the same color as the cap, and brittle. The spores are typically 7.5–10 × 6–8 × 5–5.5μm and ovate–lentiform in shape with a thickened wall.[11] A large spored variety (spore dimensions of 8.5–11 × 6.0–8.5 × 5.0–7.0μm), Psilocybe montana var. macrospora Noordel. & Verduin (1999), has also been reported from the Netherlands.[12] The spore print is dark greyish brown.[13]
It is listed as inedible,[14] being too small to be of interest.[10]
Habitat and distribution
The species is commonly found in exposed situations such as dune-meadows, heaths and tree-less tundra, and open Pinus forests, usually on nutrient-poor, well-drained soil.[15]
It has a worldwide, almost cosmopolitan distribution and has been reported from a variety of regions in a wide range of climates, including:
They have also been reported growing in Chemnitz, Germany, on vegetation-covered flat roofs.[28]
Ecology
Deconica montana is saprobic, possibly also parasitic. It is often associated with mosses such as Brachythecium albicans, B.mutabulum, Campylopus introflexus, Ceratodon purpureus, Dicranum scoparium, Eurhynchium hians, E.praelongum, E.speciosum, Rhacomitrium canescens, Pohlia species or Polytrichum piliferum.[29]
D. montana on moss
Deconica montana
References
↑ Singer, R. (1975). The Agaricales in Modern Taxonomy. J. Cramer, Vaduz. 912 p.
1 2 Salazar, F.; Marcano, V.; Castellano, F.; Martinez, L.; Morales, A. (1994). "Chemical and microstructural study of the genus Psilocybe (Agaricales) in the Venezuelan Andes: Part I. Psilocybe montana (Pers. ex Fr.) Kummer". Ernstia. 4 (1–2): 11–19.
1 2 Marcano, V.; Morales Méndez, A.; Castellano, F.; Salazar, F. J.; Martinez, L. (July 1994). "Occurrence of psilocybin and psilocin in Psilocybe pseudobullacea (Petch) Pegler from the Venezuelan Andes". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 43 (2): 157–9. doi:10.1016/0378-8741(94)90013-2. PMID7967656.
↑ Moncalvo JM, Vilgalys R, Redhead SA, etal. (2002). "One hundred and seventeen clades of euagarics". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 23 (3): 357–400. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00027-1. PMID12099793.
↑ Bas, Cornelis (1988). Flora agaricina Neerlandica: critical monographs on families of agarics and boleti occurring in the Netherlands. Rotterdam: A.A. Balkema. ISBN978-90-5410-492-6.
↑ Gastón Guzmán (1983). The genus Psilocybe: a systematic revision of the known species including the history, distribution and chemistry of the hallucinogenic species. Berlin: J. Cramer. ISBN978-3-7682-5474-8.
↑ Guzmán, G.; Tapia, F.; Ramírez-Guillén, F.; Baroni, T. J.; Lodge, D. J; Cantrell, S. A.; Nieves-Rivera, A. M. (2003). "New species of Psilocybe in the Caribbean, with an emendation of P. guilartensis". Mycologia. 95 (6): 1171–1180. doi:10.2307/3761918. JSTOR3761918. PMID21149019.
↑ Nieves-Rivera, A. M.; Flores, Santos; Betancourt, C. (1997). "Notes on the Agaricales of the high plains of Guasca, Cundinamarca Department, Colombia". Caldasia. 19 (1–2): 349–51.
↑ Lange, M. (1955). Macromycetes Part II, Greenland Agaricales. Meddel. Grønland. 147:1–69.
↑ Favre, J. (1955). Les champignons supérieurs de la zone alpine du Parc National Suisse. Vol. 5. Druck Ludin AG. Liestal, Switzerland. pp. 1–212.
↑ Favre, J. (1960). Catalogue descriptif des champignons supérieurs de la zone subalpine du Parc National Suisse. Vol. 6. Druck Ludin AG. Liestal, Switzerland. pp. 323–610.
↑ Urbonas, V. A. (1978). "The taxonomy and range of fungi of the family Strophariaceae in the USSR. Part 3. The genus Psilocybe". Lietuvos TSR Mokslu Akademijos Darbai Serija C Biologijos Mokslai. 1: 9–18.
↑ Berthold, S.; Otto, P. (2005). "Studies of diversity and habitat preference of fungi and lichens on vegetation-covered flat roofs in Chemnitz (Saxony)". Boletus. 28 (1): 37–47.
↑ Lamoure, D. (1977). "Agaricales de la zone alpine. Psilocybe chionophila, sp. nov". Bull. Soc. Linn. Lyon. 46: 213–217.
Further reading
Stamets P. (1996). Psilocybin mushrooms of the world. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA, USA. 245 pp. (p. 132)
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