Psilocybe weraroa | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Basidiomycota |
Class: | Agaricomycetes |
Order: | Agaricales |
Family: | Hymenogastraceae |
Genus: | Psilocybe |
Species: | P. weraroa |
Binomial name | |
Psilocybe weraroa Borovička, Oborník & Noordel. (2011) | |
Synonyms [1] | |
Secotium novae-zelandiae G.Cunn. (1924) Contents |
Psilocybe weraroa, formerly Weraroa novae-zelandiae, is a secotioid fungus in the family Hymenogastraceae . [2] It is endemic to New Zealand, where it grows in native forests from rotting wood and woody debris. [3] Despite its pouch-like form this species is closely related to Psilocybe cyanescens and Psilocybe subaeruginosa . [4] As a bluing member of the genus Psilocybe it contains the psychoactive compounds psilocin and psilocybin. [5] It has been cultivated commercially by Rua Bioscience with a view to researching potential medical applications, bringing together its traditional uses in Rongoā Māori with the recent interest in Western medicine into the medical applications of psilocin and psilocybin. [6] [7] [8]
The species was first described in the literature in 1924 by the New Zealand-based mycologist Gordon Heriot Cunningham, under the name Secotium novae-zelandiae. [9] Rolf Singer transferred it to the genus Weraroa in 1958. [10] Phylogenetic analysis by Moncalvo (2002) [11] and Bridge et al. (2008) [5] has demonstrated the close relationship between Weraroa novae-zelandiae and the hallucinogenic blue-staining group of Psilocybe, particularly Psilocybe subaeruginosa . Phylogenetic analysis published by Borovička and colleagues (2011) showed this species is very close to Psilocybe cyanescens . Given this and the apparently distant relation with other species of Weraroa Borovička et al. (2011) suggested renaming the species Psilocybe weraroa. [4]
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Cladogram depicting the phylogeny of P. weraroa and related species of Psilocybe. [4] |
The species epithet weraroa is taken from the former generic name, which refers to the type locality. The binomial Psilocybe novae-zelandiae could not be used, as it had been applied to another species in 1978 by Gastón Guzmán and Egon Horak (now Deconica novae-zelandiae ). [12] [13]
Psilocybe weraroa | |
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Glebal hymenium | |
Cap is conical or ovate | |
Stipe is bare or has a cortina | |
Spore print is purple-brown | |
Ecology is saprotrophic | |
Edibility is psychoactive |
Pileus (Peridium) 3—5 cm. long by 1.5—3 cm. wide, roundish, ovate (wider at the base and tapering towards the end, egg-shaped) or elongated and elliptic (tapered at the base and apex with a swollen mid-section), base decurrent (extending down the stem below the insertion) or rounded and blunt, margin folded and often torn, light brown when young, becoming french-grey or pale blue-grey, sometimes pallid green in age, longitudinally fibrillose causing a finely striated appearance, becoming smooth, polished, glabrous, tacky and leathery in age, slowly bruising blue or greenish when injured, drying yellow to dingy brown. Stipe up to 40 mm. long by 6 mm. in diameter, slender, equal in width, whitish to french-grey, bruising blue or greenish with damage, yellowish-brown at the base, initially fibrillose but becoming smooth, polished and cartilaginous in age excluding at the base, hollow, flesh yellow-orange, thickening at the internal apex. Gleba sepia-brown to chocolate-brown, cellular, coarsely shaped, often elongated, laterally compressed, sparse, chambered and gill-like. Spores 11–15(17) x 5–8 μm in size, smooth, sepia-coloured to purple-brown, elliptic-ovate or elliptical in shape, rounded at one end with a thin epispore. [9]
Solitary to crowded on decaying wood buried in forest leaf litter, often on the rotting branches of Melicytus ramiflorus . It has also been found fruiting on rotted cabbage trees and associated with decaying tree-fern fronds, native to the forests of New Zealand. [9]
Fairly abundant in the early winter and spring months in lowland mixed rainforest near Wellington and Auckland. The mushroom can be difficult to see, often buried under leaves or eaten by slugs, and it is sometimes hard to find mature specimens that are not partially eaten. [9] The species is endemic to New Zealand. [3]
Clavogaster virescens is similar in appearance and habitat, but the gleba form a reddish brown chambered mass enclosed inside a sack-like structure within the peridium. The stem is stout, smooth and slippery rather than fibrous, off-white to yellow, enlarged at the top where it often smoothly transitions into the pouch, and tapering towards a yellower base. The fungus does not have a bluing reaction; it is naturally blue to greenish blue, and has no psychoactive properties. [9]
Psilocybe is a genus of gilled mushrooms, growing worldwide, in the family Hymenogastraceae. Many species contain the psychedelic compounds psilocybin and psilocin.
Psilocybe cyanescens, commonly known as the wavy cap or potent psilocybe, is a species of potent psychedelic mushroom. The main compounds responsible for its psychedelic effects are psilocybin and psilocin. It belongs to the family Hymenogastraceae. A formal description of the species was published by Elsie Wakefield in 1946 in the Transactions of the British Mycological Society, based on a specimen she had recently collected at Kew Gardens. She had begun collecting the species as early as 1910. The mushroom is not generally regarded as being physically dangerous to adults. Since all the psychoactive compounds in P. cyanescens are water-soluble, the fruiting bodies can be rendered non-psychoactive through parboiling, allowing their culinary use. However, since most people find them overly bitter and they are too small to have great nutritive value, this is not frequently done.
Psilocybe azurescens is a species of psychedelic mushroom whose main active compounds are psilocybin and psilocin. It is among the most potent of the tryptamine-bearing mushrooms, containing up to 1.8% psilocybin, 0.5% psilocin, and 0.4% baeocystin by dry weight, averaging to about 1.1% psilocybin and 0.15% psilocin. It belongs to the family Hymenogastraceae in the order Agaricales.
Psilocybe baeocystis is a psilocybin mushroom of the family Hymenogastraceae. It contains the hallucinogenic compounds psilocybin, psilocin and baeocystin. The species is commonly known by various names such as bottle caps, knobby tops, blue bells, olive caps.
Psilocybe caerulipes, commonly known as blue-foot, is a rare psilocybin mushroom of the family Hymenogastraceae, having psilocybin and psilocin as main active compounds. An older synonym is Agaricus caerulipes.
Psilocybe aucklandiae is a species of agaric fungus in the family Hymenogastraceae. The species is known from the Auckland Region of New Zealand, where it grows from clay soils in exotic pine plantations and native forests. It is phylogenetically similar to or almost the same as Psilocybe zapotecorum from Mexico and South America. As a blueing member of the genus Psilocybe it contains the psychoactive compounds psilocin and psilocybin.
Psilocybe subaeruginosa is a species of agaric fungus in the family Hymenogastraceae described in 1927 and known from Australia and New Zealand. As a blueing member of the genus Psilocybe it contains the psychoactive compounds psilocin and psilocybin.
Psilocybe mescaleroensis is a psychedelic mushroom which has psilocybin and psilocin as main active compounds. This mushroom is closely related to Psilocybe hopii and Psilocybe cyanescens. It was brought to scientific attention by Lee Walstad.
Deconica montana, commonly known as the mountain moss Psilocybe, is a common species of mushroom that usually grows in mossy and montane regions around the world. The appearance is that of a typical "little brown mushroom" with a small, brown cap and a straight, thin stipe.
Psilocybe stuntzii, also known as Stuntz's blue legs and blue ringers it is a psilocybin mushroom of the family Hymenogastraceae, having psilocybin and psilocin as main active compounds.
Psilocybe cyanofibrillosa, also known as rhododendron psilocybe and blue-haired psilocybe, is a psilocybin mushroom of the family Hymenogastraceae having psilocybin and psilocin as main active compounds. First documented in 1980 in the Pacific Northwest, it is relatively uncommon and can be distinguished from other closely related species by its smaller spores and forking cheilocystidia. Psilocybe cyanescens also has forking cheilocystidia, but less often than Psilocybe cyanofibrillosa. Psilocybe cyanofibrillosa is also distinguished from Psilocybe cyanescens by an absence of pleurocystidia. The name of this species refers to the fibrils on the Stipe (mycology) that turn bluish in age, or when handled.
Gymnopilus luteus, known as the yellow gymnopilus, is a widely distributed mushroom-forming fungus of the Eastern United States. It contains the hallucinogens psilocybin and psilocin. It is often mistaken for G. speciosissimus and G. subspectabilis.
Weraroa was a genus of mushrooms from the families Hymenogastraceae and Strophariaceae. The genus was initially described by mycologist Rolf Singer in 1958 to accommodate the single species Secotium novae-zelandiae reported by Gordon Herriott Cunningham in 1924. It was thought that the genus represented an intermediary evolutionary stage between a hypogeous (underground) ancestor and the related epigeous genus Stropharia. Advances in phylogenetics and taxonomic changes since 1958 found it contained unrelated species from multiple genera. It is now considered a synonym of the genus Psilocybe.
Psilocybe makarorae is a species of psilocybin mushroom in the family Hymenogastraceae. Officially described as new to science in 1995, it is known only from New Zealand, where it grows on rotting wood and twigs of southern beeches. The fruit body (mushroom) has a brownish cap with lighter coloured margins, measuring up to 3.5 cm (1.4 in) wide. The cap shape is either conical, bell-shaped, but as the mushroom grows, it expands to become convex, and it features a prominent umbo. Although the whitish stem does not form a true ring, it retains remnants of the partial veil that covers and protects the gills of young fruit bodies. P. makarorae mushrooms can be distinguished from the similar North American species Psilocybe caerulipes by microscopic characteristics such as the presence of cystidia on the gill faces (pleurocystidia), and cheilocystidia with more elongated necks. Based on the bluing reaction to injury, P. makarorae is presumed to contain the psychedelic compounds psilocybin and psilocin.
Psilocybe serbica is a species of mushroom in the family Hymenogastraceae. The mushroom contains the psychotropic compounds psilocybin and psilocin, and also related tryptamine alkaloids baeocystin, norbaeocystin, and aeruginascin. It is closely related to Psilocybe aztecorum. It was reported as new to science by Meinhard Moser and Egon Horak in 1969. Molecular analysis published in 2010 has shown that P. serbica is the same species as Psilocybe bohemica described by Šebek in 1983, Psilocybe arcana described by Borovička and Hlaváček in 2001, and Psilocybe moravica by Borovička in 2003. Psilocybe serbica is common in Central Europe.
Psilocybe subcubensis is an entheogenic species of mushroom in the family Hymenogastraceae. The mushroom contains the medicinal compounds psilocybin and psilocin. Psilocybe subcubensis was first described by Mexican mycologist Gaston Guzman. It is the pantropical sister species of Psilocybe cubensis. It is macroscopically identical to P. cubensis but has smaller spores.
Cortinarius porphyroideus, commonly known as purple pouch fungus, is a secotioid species of fungus endemic to New Zealand. It was one of six species that appeared as part of a series depicting native New Zealand fungi on stamps, released in 2002.
Psilocybe allenii is a species of agaric fungus in the family Hymenogastraceae. Described as new to science in 2012, it is named after John W. Allen, who provided the type collection. It is found in the northwestern North America from British Columbia, Canada to Los Angeles, California, most commonly within 10 miles (16 km) of the Pacific coast.
Clavogaster virescens is a species of secotioid or pouch-like fungus in the family Strophariaceae. It is endemic and indigenous to New Zealand, where it grows on rotting wood in native bush and mixed native and introduced forests. It has a stout yellowish stem, and a powder blue, purplish or greenish blue cap that forms a pouch, often referred to as a peridium, enclosing reddish brown or orange chambered gleba. The species is sometimes known as the "Spindle Pouch".