Psilocybe mairei

Psilocybe mairei
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Basidiomycota
Class:	Agaricomycetes
Order:	Agaricales
Family:	Hymenogastraceae
Genus:	Psilocybe
Species:	P. mairei
Binomial name
Psilocybe mairei Singer [1]
Synonyms [2]
Hypholoma cyanescens Maire [3] (basionym) Geophila cyanescens Kühner & Romagn. [4]

Psilocybe mairei is a species of mushroom in the family Hymenogastraceae. It is found in Algeria and Morocco and contains the psychoactive compound psilocybin. ^[5] The oldest example of rock art suggesting use of psychedelic mushrooms might depict P. mairei. In 1992 the Italian ethnobotanist Giorgio Samorini reported finding a painted mural from Tassili n'Ajjer in the Sahara desert in southeast Algeria, dated 7000 to 9000 BCE, portraying mushrooms ^[6] (later tentatively identified as P. mairei ^[7] ).

The species was first described in 1928 by René Maire, collected in the Atlas Mountains above the city of Blida, Algeria under Atlas cedar, and given the name Hypholoma cyanescens. ^[3] In 1953, it was transferred to the genus Geophilia by Robert Kühner and Henri Romagnesi. ^[4] In 1973, Rolf Singer recognized it as a Psilocybe , ^[1] but the name Psilocybe cyanescens was an unavailable name, having been used to describe a different species in 1946. Hence, Singer provided a new species epithet, named in honor of the mycologist who originally described the species.

See also

• List of Psilocybin mushrooms
• Psilocybin mushrooms
• Psilocybe

References

1. Singer, Rolf (1973). "Diagnoses Fungorum Novorum Agaricalium III". Beihefte zur Sydowia. 7: 1–106 [ 84 ] – via ZOBODAT.
2. Psilocybe mairei in MycoBank.
3. Maire, René (1928). "Diagnoses de champignons inédits de l'Afrique du Nord". Bulletin de la Société Mycologique de France. 44 (1): 37–56 [51–53] – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
4. Kühner, Robert; Romagnesi, Henri (1953). Flore Analytique des Champignons Supérieurs (Agarics, Bolets, Chanterelles) (in French). Paris: Masson. ISBN   978-2-225-53713-4. p. 337.
5. Gastón Guzmán; John W. Allen; Jochen Gartz (1998). "A worldwide geographical distribution of the neurotropic fungi, an analysis and discussion" (PDF). Annali del Museo Civico di Rovereto (14): 189–280. (on Fondazione Museo Civico di Rovereto)
6. Samorini G. (1992). "The oldest representations of hallucinogenic mushrooms in the world (Sahara Desert, 9000–7000 B.P.)". Integration. 2 (3): 69–78.
7. Akers BP, Ruiz JF, Piper A, Ruck CA (2011). "A prehistoric mural in Spain depicting neurotropic Psilocybe mushrooms?". Economic Botany. 65 (2): 121–8. doi:10.1007/s12231-011-9152-5. S2CID   3955222.