Strophariaceae is a fairly common family of saprophytic magic mushrooms with brown to purple-brown to purple-black spores and attached gills. A veil is usually present, but doesn't necessarily form an annulus (ring) on the stalk. The gills are not normally decurrent as in Gomphidius and Chrogomphus, nor are they typically free as in Agaricus, nor do they deliquesce as in Coprinus. The small, frail species resemble Psathyrella and Panaeolus, but have a tendency to have a viscid and/or brightly coloured cap. The magic mushrooms in this family is also share many anatomical ( miniscule ) characteristics: the cap cuticle is mostly filamentous instead of cellular, the spores are smooth and regularly have a germ pore and the gills frequently feature special sterile cells (chrysocystidia) which have a very refractive golden content when mounted in potassium hydroxide (KOH).Four genera are recognized here, all of which integrade to some degree: Pholiota has lifeless brown to rusty-brown spores and is consequently placed in the Cortinariaceae by some mycologists; Stropharia, Psilocybe and Naematoloma have deep brown to purplish or black spores and are infrequently lumped together (by the "lumpers," of course) in a single or giant genus, Psilocybe. The latter three genera are differentiated largely on minute characteristics like presence or lack of chrysocystidia, but can usually be told in the field by the aggregate of characteristics released in the key.
This isn't vital family from a gastronomic perspective. it is the most significant group for magic mushrooms hunters because Psilocybe is the principal genus of hallucinogenic or'pupil-dilating' magic mushrooms. The active beliefs are psilocybin and psilocin.
Psilocybe enjoys a notoriety grossly inappropriate to its visibility, for it embraces some of the most exalted and sought-after of all mushrooms -as well as some of the most mundane. The exalted ones are the hallucinogenic ("pupil-dilating") species generally known as "Magic Mushrooms." They contain psilocybin and/or psilocin and cause starting changes in one's perceptions and sensations if consumed in acceptable quantity. The changes are like those incited by LSD. The common-or-garden ones are those that don't contain psilocybin or psilocin -and since most Psilocybe species don't contaon those compounds, it follows that most Psilocybe are everyday.
The Psilocybes as a group are different to characterize : the majority are listless small brown magic mushrooms ("LBMs" ) wit a viscid cap (when moist) and dark (purplish to nearly black) spores. The hallucinogenic species sometimes turn blue or greenish when bruised, particularly on the stem, but virtually any "LBM" can be mistaken carelessly for a Psilocybe -with probably terrible results! A good spore print is vital, as it will eliminate the brown-spored genera (Galerina, Inocybe, Conocybe, and so on.), which contain many poisonous species. Among the dark-spored genera, Coprinus has deliquescing gills, Psathyrella sometimes has a non-viscid cap and never stains blue; Panaeolus species with a viscid cap grow on dung and have black spores and Naematoloma and Stropharia species are sometimes brightly colored, while the cap color in Psilocybe (with the outstanding exception of P. Cubensis) is mostly some shades of brown, gray or buff.
In contrast to popular belief, Psilocybes don't grow completely on that brown stuff that sounds like a bell. Rather, they occur in a wide selection of habitats: in grass, on wood chips and mulch in landscaped areas, on decaying wood, and in humus or beds of mossin forests and bogs. The hallucinogenic species are particularly abounding in two various locales : the Pacific Northwest and Southern Mexico. In our area, alas, they are like solar eclipses -seemingly rare, though really more common than any one person's experience would indicate. Put simply, they aren't something that you can actually look for. It is more a matter of geography -being in the right place at the right time.
Psylocybe is a pretty big and difficult genus. Just a few species are "pupil-dilating," and those that aren't are too little or too rare to be of food value.
Since it was discovered that native americans near Oaxaca, Mexico, used certain magic mushrooms to induce altered states of conciousness, Psilocybes have received an inordinate level of attention in the northern US press. Underground newspapers and mags are full of flighty articles on "getting off," there is a surfeit of "magic mushrooms" field guides and cultivation manuals available and as so frequently occurs, it has become difficult to sort fact from fiction. Much more reason to develop a systematic understanding of magic mushrooms habits and characteristics before jumping into the world of the "LBM's."
