Psilocybe blue (Psilocybe cyanescens)
Systematics:- Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Agaricomycetidae (Agaricomycetes)
- Order: Agaricales (Agaric or Lamellar)
- Family: Hymenogastraceae (Hymenogastric)
- Genus: Psilocybe (Psilocybe)
- Species: Psilocybe cyanescens (Psilocybe blue)
Bluish psilocybe is a hallucinogenic genus of mushrooms from the Agaricomycete class, Stropharia family, Psilocybe genus.
External description
The fruit body of a blue psilocybe consists of a cap and a leg. The diameter of the cap is from 2 to 4 cm, has a rounded shape, but in mature mushrooms it becomes widespread, with a wavy, uneven edge. The color of the cap of the described mushroom can be reddish or brownish, but more often it is yellowish. Interestingly, the color of the fruit body of a blue psilocybe changes with the weather. For example, when it is dry outside and it does not rain, the color of the mushroom becomes light yellow, and at high humidity, the surface of the fruit body acquires a certain oily. If you press on the flesh of the described mushroom, then it acquires a bluish-green tint, and sometimes bluish specks are noticeable along the edge of the fruit body.
The hymenophore of the blue psilocybe is represented by the lamellar type. The plates are characterized by a rare arrangement, light ocher-brown color. In mature psilocybe mushrooms, the blue plates turn dark brown. They often grow to the surface of the fruiting body. The constituent components of the lamellar hymenophore are tiny particles called spores. They are characterized by a purplish brown color.
The pulp of the described mushroom has a slight mealy odor, it is white in color, it can change its color on the cut.
The leg of the mushroom is 2.5-5 cm long, and its diameter varies within 0.5-0.8 cm. In young mushrooms, the leg has a whitish color, but when the fruit bodies ripen, it gradually turns blue. On the surface of the described mushroom, the remains of a private bedspread may be noticeable.
Season and habitat of the fungus
Psilocybe blue (Psilocybe cyanescens) bears fruit in the autumn, mainly in humid areas, on soils rich in organic matter, on forest edges, road shoulders, on pastures and wastelands. Their distinctive feature is the fusion of the legs together. This type of mushroom grows on dead vegetation.
Edibility
A mushroom called blue psilocybe belongs to the poisonous, when eaten, it causes severe hallucinations, disrupts the proper functioning of the auditory and visual organs.