Weraroa | |
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Genus: | Weraroa |
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Weraroa novae-zelandiae |
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. [1] It was thought that the genus represented an intermediary evolutionary stage between a hypogeous (underground) ancestor and the related epigeous (above ground) genus Stropharia . [2] [3] 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 . [4]
The following descriptions may not represent all species formerly the genus.
Weraroa contained secotioid fungi, meaning that the margin of the pileus rarely breaks free of the stipe, making them resemble somewhat a pouch on the end of a stem, or stalked-puffball. The peridium (outer wall), which at maturity is glutinous, may range in shape from fusoid to spherical to ovoid or ellipsoid.
The gleba consists of elongated loculi that are various shades of brown. The stipe may also be glutinous, and is continuous with a columella reaching and merging with the upper peridium, often with a thin veil-like structure that joins the edge of the peridium with the top of the stipe. The context is fleshy and may be gelatinous in the outer portion of the peridium. [5]
Cunningham was first to report that the mushroom takes a long time to mature, and specimens can also persist for long times. [1]
Spores are typically from 10 to 20 μm in diameter, ellipsoid in shape, smooth, and pigmented ochre to brownish. The basidia (usually 4-spored) often envelop their sterigmata in gastroid-like fashion (i.e., enclosed), and may be narrower in the middle with a broader base. Chrysocystidium are present on the hymenium, on the sterile surfaces of young specimens, and as endocystidia. [5]
Species are usually found in rainforests or wet grasslands, growing on the ground or on wood; species of Weraroa have been found in New Zealand and the United States.
Few records of these species exist; it is unlikely they truly belong in the genus Weraroa (synn. Psilocybe ).
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.
Galerina is a genus of small brown-spore saprobic fungi, with over 300 species found throughout the world from the far north to remote Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean. The genus is most noted for some extremely poisonous species which are occasionally confused with hallucinogenic species of Psilocybe. Species are typically small and hygrophanous, with a slender and brittle stem. They are often found growing on wood, and when on the ground have a preference for mossy habitats.
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 silvatica is a psilocybin mushroom in the section Semilanceatae of the genus Psilocybe. Psilocybin is the main active compound.
Psilocybe weraroa, formerly Weraroa novae-zelandiae, is a secotioid fungus in the family Hymenogastraceae. It is endemic to New Zealand, where it grows in native forests from rotting wood and woody debris. Despite its pouch-like form this species is closely related to Psilocybe cyanescens and Psilocybe subaeruginosa. As a bluing member of the genus Psilocybe it contains the psychoactive compounds psilocin and psilocybin. 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.
Leratiomyces is a genus of mushroom-forming basidiomycetes first proposed three times under invalid names, and finally validated in 2008. It includes several formerly described, variously, from the genera Stropharia, Hypholoma, and Weraroa. It was formerly classified as Stropharia section Stropholoma, though some authorities placed this section in the genus Hypholoma, as these species often have features that are intermediate between the two genera.
Gymnogaster is a genus of fungi in the family Boletaceae. It is a monotypic genus, containing the single secotioid species Gymnogaster boletoides, found in Australia. The fungus produces bright yellow fruit bodies with a light brown internal gleba, and the fruit bodies turn blue then dark brown after bruising or handling.
Secotium is a genus of fungi in the family Agaricaceae. The members of this genus are closely related to ordinary Agaricus mushrooms, but do not open out in the usual way; this has given rise to the term "secotioid" for such mushrooms in general. They are thought to form an evolutionary link between agarics and gasteroid fungi. Secotium is a widespread genus, with species that are predominantly found in warm and arid regions.
Agaricus deserticola, commonly known as the gasteroid agaricus, is a species of fungus in the family Agaricaceae. Found only in southwestern and western North America, A. deserticola is adapted for growth in dry or semi-arid habitats. The fruit bodies are secotioid, meaning the spores are not forcibly discharged, and the cap does not fully expand. Unlike other Agaricus species, A. deserticola does not develop true gills, but rather a convoluted and networked system of spore-producing tissue called a gleba. When the partial veil breaks or pulls away from the stem or the cap splits radially, the blackish-brown gleba is exposed, which allows the spores to be dispersed.
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, or flat depending on the age of the mushroom, 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.
Leratiomyces erythrocephalus, commonly known as the red pouch fungus, is a species of fungus in the family Strophariaceae. First described scientifically as Secotium erythrocephalum by Louis René Tulasne in 1845 and later transferred to Weraroa by American mycologists Rolf Singer and Alexander H. Smith in 1958, it was given its current name in 2008. It is found in New Zealand.
Octaviania is a genus of truffle-like fungi in the family Boletaceae. The widespread genus is estimated to contain 15 species.
Deconica is a genus of mushroom-forming fungi in the family Strophariaceae. It was formerly considered synonymous with Psilocybe until molecular studies showed that genus to be polyphyletic, made of two major clades: one containing bluing, hallucinogenic species, the other non-bluing and non-hallucinogenic species. Deconica contains species formerly classified in the sections Deconica and Coprophila of Psilocybe.
Nivatogastrium is a genus of secotioid fungi in the family Strophariaceae. The genus has contained four species found in North America and New Zealand, but the type species, Nivatogastrium nubigenum, is now considered to be a gasteroid species of Pholiota, and was transferred to that genus in 2014.
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.
Pholiota nubigena, commonly known as the gastroid pholiota or the bubble gum fungus, is a species of secotioid fungus in the family Strophariaceae. It is found in mountainous areas of the western United States, where it grows on rotting conifer wood, often fir logs. It fruits in spring, often under snow, and early summer toward the end of the snowmelt period in high mountain forests. Fruit bodies appear similar to unopened mushrooms, measuring 1–4 centimetres tall with 1–2.4 cm diameter caps that are whitish to brownish. They have a short but distinct whitish stipe that extend through the internal spore mass (gleba) of the fruit body into the cap. The gleba consists of irregular chambers made of contorted gills that are brownish in color. A whitish, cottony partial veil is present in young specimens, but it often disappears in age and does not leave a ring on the stipe.
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".