TEONANACATL 12/96 McCopies & D.Stribute Thank you for requesting our "catalog". The anti-profit project TEONANACATL doesn't have an extensive catalog. It's main focus now is to rise awareness of the advantages of PERENNIAL NATURAL OUTDOOR CULTURE of cold-weather, wood- eating mushrooms similar to Psilocybe cyanescens, and to distribute spore- prints of PCY-AO: Psilocybe cyanescens var. Astoria Ossip (= Psilocybe azurescens). Enclosed is a sample of spores of PCY-AO: small, but enough for microscopy and propagation. Any donations, further orders, inquiries (please include at least 2$) from you will be very welcome. In addition to our gagadadaistic infos (written mostly by Ms. Ossip in 1995, and (a bit relcutantly) updated 1996 by Mc Copies and D.Stribute, who also apologize for all the typos). TEONANACATL offers spores of a few selected kinds of shrooms, currently available: PCY-AO: Psilocybe cyanescens var Astoria Ossip (= Psilocybe azurescens) from Central Europe. Small Sample: 5$, entire spore-print: 10$ (medium) to 20$ (big+). PSC-A4: and PSC-B1: Psilocybe cubensis strains from the US, called "Amazon" and "Breitenbush", grown in Europe for 4/1 generations. Both varieties derived from and are very well adopted to indoor cultivation. BEWARE: these prints are more than two years old and maybe good only for microscopy. PSC-X: Psilocybe cubensis strain, unknown type, maybe "Amazon". Probably came from US, grown indoors in northern Europe in 1996. PSC-Z: Psilocybe cubensis, said to be a cross between the strains offered by P.Fanaticus and Pacific Exotica Spora, grown indoors in the US in 1996. All of the above: small sample only, 2$ each. To order, add 2$ p/h and mail payment (CASH ONLY, any currency) to: TEONANACATL (postlagernd) Postamt 1092 Wien A-1092 Vienna Austria - No cheques or Money Orders! - Allow one to three weeks for processing. - Your address will not be stored, and your letter will be destroyed. - Please include your mailing address on a label or printed nicely, and use a reasonable return address on your letter. - Although spore-prints may sometimes loose some of their beauty this way, they are mailed in regular airmail letters, unless you explicitly ask for a more sturdy container. Please note, that the spores are ALIVE. Therefore, they belong only to themselves. You cannot own them, and will have to care for them, rather. With "ordering" them you also take the full responsibility for them! 1996: Psilocybe cyanescens var. Astoria Ossip (= Psilocybe azurescens) has been reported to fruit copiously outdoors in many places, and also (though on a smaller scale and somewhat reluctantly) indoors in a couple of places. Most growers now seem to use labour-saving liquid inoculation techniques, like Psilocybe Fanaticus (http://www.fanaticus.com) spore-syringe method, to produce spawn of PCY-AO. [We offer spore syringes of Psilocybe azurescens at http://www.worldnet.fr/~dagon/tac/ethno.htm] Some were able to grow PCY-AO without any sterile manipulations. If you should have contamination (eg. greenmold) when growing spawn of PCY-AO (on wood), don't throw it out, but put it into a suitable place outdoors. (Even where it seems hopeless) PCY-AO often outgrows contaminants! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TEONANACATL 1995 Psilocybe cyanescens var. Astoria Ossip (= Psilocybe azurescens) Following texts accompanied spores of Psilocybe cyanescens var. Astoria Ossip, which were dispatched in january and february 1995. Some of the letters additionally contained b/w grafics of sporeprints or a copy of the article by J. Gartz (#6, below). To my revered teacher, and powerful ally, TEONANACATL "I am older, older than thought in your species. My Mystic and Magickal powers have been known by Women since thousands of years before Buddha and Christ. Societies that have followed my rule have lived in harmony with nature. I can bring the mightiest wars before your eyes, or - show you - Death. Can show you: certainty (not faith) and peace - unutterable. And I can give you laughter, joy, and ecstasy - ineffable. Showing the future to those who dare is nothing: I could place you with the Gods. And my joy is to see your joy and my ecstasy is in yours. Learning to reproduce my growing environment you will come to love me. The mushrooms which you see are only the part of my body dedicated to sex thrills, sunbathing and the communion with symbiotic species. My true body, hardware for my collective hypermind, is an underground network of fine fibers, which may cover many acres, grow for thousands of years, and can have far more connections than even the human brain. Learning .. thy Way .. you will look upon me with awe and amazement - For I am the Flesh of the Gods. " The classic (1) sold more than 100,000 copies and helped a lot to ensure that TEONANACATL will not be (again) censored into oblivion. The grain-jar method of growing Psilocybe cubensis and other leaf/compost/dung-eating species is fastest and can easily be done indoors. But it is also quite laborious, and even if these mushrooms are grown on straw or compost, the cultures are short-lived and require repeated sterile lab work for propagation. (5) Wood-loving species, however, (and especially those preferring a colder climate), like Psilocybe cyanescens, can easily be allowed to grow in outdoor beds like perennial plants, comparable to trees, requiring no (more) labwork. It should be pointed out, that mushrooms of a strikingly similar habitat are probably the biggest living organisms on earth today, as well as among the oldest (3). Jochen Gartz recently described a "new method of mushroom cultivation in N. America", which can indeed do without any labwork (6). Some european growers prefer to start with a (onetime) run of spawn- production (agar-dishes, glasses of oats/rye/barley, then glasses/bags of wood-chips) in spring, which usually results in a first harvest in fall, and a mushroom bed that can be enlarged both in area and yield in the next years and very probably be maintained far beyond human lifetime. Clean wood debris (like from a planing machine, sawdust does not work) seem to work even better than freshly chopped wood. Although Psilocybe cyanescens seems to be able to fruit on plain wood without any casing, it is advisable to supply the bed with enough soil (and seeds), and leaves and larger branches, as the mushrooms really love to grow in between and under grass or other plants. The mushroom-beds obtained can be left on their own most of the year and (in a good location) need attention only at harvesting time. Outdoors un- favorable weather may of course diminish or prevent a year's harvest, but as this cannot hurt the mass of underground mycelium, the shrooms will just make up for it next season. "Oh, growing them seems to be no less consciousness - expanding than eating them." a, then new, pupil of Teonanacatl quite correctly realized. Psilocybe cyanescens var. Astoria Ossip (= Psilocybe azurescens) made its way to europe from the northern U.S., but may well have originated elsewhere, even as a mycologist pointed out, from (sub)tropical mountain areas. Like Psilocybe cyanescens (Wakefield), the "Wavy Cap" known from Britain and US., IT NEEDS A FEW WEEKS OF COLD (NEAR FREEZING) WEATHER FOR FRUITING, and seems to feed on any kind of wood, cardboard or similar. Mycelium and fruiting bodies are strongly blueing and the latter have an entheogenic potency, which was described as 'at least twice that of Psilocybe cubensis' and 'not weaker than Psilocybe semilanceata' after comparisons with dried and weighed samples. The caps of Psilocybe cyanescens var. Astoria Ossip (= Psilocybe azurescens), which easily grow bigger than 3" in dia, are often distinctly umbonate and rarely wavy, and there is other hints, that it may just as well be a species closely related to, but not identical with Psilocybe cyanescens. [Note: Jochen Gartz now demonstrated that Psilocybe cyanescens var. Astoria Ossip is indeed a separate species, probably identical to Psilocybe azurescens.] The visionary experience induced by 2 to 2.5 g (dry/80 kg) of Psilocybe cyanescens var. Astoria Ossip has been described as colorful, psychedelic and as deep and far-out as can be, effecting the mind without any stress on the body. It may encompass about everything which Stanislav Grof described in his excellent books (7) or which can be found in the Bardo Todol (8). It is sometimes threatening, nearly always astonishing and enlightening, and has been found healing in quite a few cases. (1) O. T. Oss, O. N. Oeric - Psilocybin/Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide (1976), 2nd, revised ed. available. (2) S. L. Peele - Fruit Of The Gods (1982), (3) for descriptions of giant armillaria fungi (honey mushrooms) see Nature, April 1992; SporesAfield, archived at: gopher.econet.apc.org/ environment/misc/mycology (4) Lao Tse - Tao Te King (5) P. Stamets, J. S. Chilton - The Mushroom Cultivator (1983) (6) Integration, J. for mind-moving plants & culture, 4 (1993) (7) Realms of the Unconscious (1975) -- + J. Halifax: The Human Encounter with Death (1977) -- LSD Psychotherapy (1979, new edition available, after all) -- Beyond Death (1980). (8) The Great Liberation Through Hearing in The Bardo = The Tibetan Book of the Dead. [There are several versions available, highly differing in quality, an original 1:1 traduction is a must have. Edited versions include The Psychedelic Experience by the late Timothy Leary.] Psilocybe cyanescens var. Astoria Ossip grows very vigorously and usually produces spores copiously. It is quite exciting to watch under a microscope, how a high percentage of these germinate within 6-36 hours when put onto agar at room temperature. * Send at least $2 (cash or stamps only) for more infos, or $5 for a small sample of spores (but ample enough for microscopy and propagation), or $10 to $20 for an entire, more decorative sporeprint of Psilocybe cyanescens var. Astoria Ossip to: TEONANACATL (postlagernd) Postamt 1092 Wien A-1092 Vienna Austria TUNE IN: to universal knowledge and perception unveiled. DROP OUT: object consumerism. stop the war against Earth and People. TURN ON: Increase Intelligence. ... and study all of Tim Leary, Aldous Huxley, Robert Anton Wilson, Jack Kerouac and Carlos Castaneda. TEONANACATL teaches patience and perseverance, too. TEONANACATL does not sell mushrooms. TEONANACATL does not sell anything. TEONANACATL teaches that materialistic consumerism is endangering. TEONANACATL advocates conscientious consumerism objection. TEONANACATL explicitly disrecommends the breaking of any Law. TEONANACATL teaches responsibility. TEONANACATL is a model for networking and cooperation. McCopies & D.Stribute ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ STARSEED McCopies & D.Stribute Enclosed is spores of PCY-AO (= Psilocybe cyanescens var. Astoria Ossip), collected in last fall. Please treat them with responsibility and the respect due to all forms of life. They come from mushrooms growing outside in a forest environment, and therefore some contamination with other spores is possible. But great care was taken not to introduce additional contaminants, and the sporeprints were all sealed into plastic within a few days of taking them. Especially when kept in a cool and dark place they will stay viable for many years. At least small parts of the spores of each mushroom were already spread in promising places and so given back to earth, thankfully. These spores are provided to enable research on this fascinating but not well known organism. Your feedback will be highly welcome. They must not be sold and neither the spores nor any derivatives thereof should be used to gain personal profit or for other ethically doubtful purposes. There is many things to learn still about TEONANACATL in it's many forms: - PCY-AO certainly belongs to the genus Psilocybe. It is now ('96) quite certain, that PCY-AO is not a strain of Psilocybe cyanescens, "Wavy Cap", but another species. Probably it is identical to Psilocybe azurescens and Psilocybe astoriensis. - Very probably the high entheogenic potency of PCY-AO is due mainly to its comparably high content of psilocybin and/or psilocin. Samples of PCY-AO (from outdoor natural culture, avaraged over a larger batch of mature specimens, mostly dried after sporeprinting) and also Psilocybe cubensis (cultivated on straw, indoors) and Psilocybe semilanceata (collected from their natural habitat) were found to contain the following amounts (in % of dry weight) of alkaloids: PCY-AO '94, caps: 0.7% Psilocybin, 0.4% Psilocin (1.3% "Total") PCY-AO '94, stems: 0.8% Psilocybin, 0.2% Psilocin (1.1% "Total") PCY-AO '93: 1% Psilocybin, 0.4% Psilocin (1.6% "Total") PCY-AO '91: 0.9% Psilocybin, 0.1% Psilocin (0.5% "Total") P.cubensis '91: 0.4% Psilocybin, 0.1% Psilocin (0.5% "Total") P.semilanceata '94: 1.1% Psilocybin, 0% Psilocin [#] (1.2% "Total") *note*: After ingestion, psilocybin is hydrolized to psilocin pretty rapidly and completely. 100mg of Psilocybin (C12H17N2O4P, MW=284.3) are equivalent to 72mg of psilocin (C12H16N2O, MW=204.3), or - in other words - psilocin has 1.4 times the potency of psilocybin. "Total" here refers to the (thus calculated and rounded) equivalent of psilocybin. [#] Psilocybe semilanceata also contained 0.2% of Baeocystin (others only traces). Baeocystin is said to have effects on humans very similar to those of psiloc(yb)in but weaker (per weight). * Progress in the most promising kind of research, however - the goal of which was summarized beautifully by Aldous Huxley in 1962 in a letter to Albert Hofmann (below) - has been made nearly impossible for several decades now through propaganda, censorship and oppression, which now openly employ the methods of war! I hope to see the development of a techniqui of Applied Mysticism - a technique for individuals to get the most out of their transcendental experience and to make use of the insights from the other world in the affairs of this world. (Meister Eckhart wrote that "What is taken in by contemplation must be given out in love".) This is what must be developed - the art of giving out in love and intelligence what is taken in from vision and the experience of self-transcendence and solidarity with universe. (edited, 1994) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Psilocybe cyanescens var. Astoria Ossip Notes McCopies & D.Stribute Dear mushroom friends, fungi are a fascinating form of life, which we have barely begun to understand. Keep in mind, that they are not plants. Hopefully you are already familiar with at least two or three major books on the subject. Please note, that -just to make sure we are on the safe side - no record of your name or address was kept, and your letters were burnt. So we cannot write to you again. But mail to 1092, will reach us for quete a time, we would be glad to learn about how you and PCY-AO are doing. In case it does not work, feel free to write to us again for support. Please include some stamps or cash to cover postage. Live cultures on either wood-chips, paper or small pieces of agar, sealed into plastic, can usually be sent as standard airmail letters easily and with success. We do not have any of the latter presently, but for sure some of you will have some by now. Please give us ample time for responding. We have other things to tend, too and we support the campaign for the delayment of time, anyway... Spore germination and agar culture: There seems to be hardly any difference between different MEA and PD(Y)A- formulas or between cheapest agar-agar or a highly purified quality, or whether pH is adjusted precisely, phosphate or trace elements are added or not. High humidity is absolutely essential for spore germination; within a reasonable range (maybe (5)10-30(40) degrees Celsius for PCY-AO) temperature has effect on the speed but hardly on overall success. Strain selection: Do not bet on one horse. It did happen, that a grower put a lot of work into one clone of mycelium, which was growing excellently but never produced mushrooms. If uncontaminated you can use the (mixed) cultures resulting from spore germination to produce a first run of spawn (and shrooms) but also try to isolate at least two different favourite strains, choosing carefully, which you want to "work" (opus magna) with. Growing spawn on grain and wood: PCY-AO seems to like barley, oats, rye, wheat or rice alike. Again, the exact composition hardly seems to matter but the consistency is very important - you have to optimize your grain/water ratio. My personal favourite mixture is half oats (least "sticky"), a quarter millet (often used for commercial spawn production. Advantage: many small granules), rest: mixture of others as available. I cut fully grown agar cultures (and only perfect ones) with a new blade (PCY-AO mycelium is pretty thoughl; shows strong blueing here) into as many pieces as possible (hundreds at least) and work these thoroughly using a whole agar plate per jar. PCY-AO also seems to like nearly any kind of wood: fir, larch, beech, birch, willow and others, did not show any difference in growth. (At least) for spawn-making the use of chips from planing (clean+dry) wood or a similar material, more coarse than sawdust and either soaked in water overnight or sterilized shortly with steam (allow to drip off a few hours), instead of freshly chopped branches, is highly recommended. A lot of these small, clean wood-chips can be used to feed, cover and spread your outdoor bed. Mycelial growth produces CO2 and is stimulated by higher concentration of CO2. Us glass jars for sterilizing grain media and large plastic bags with only a few tiny holes for growing wood-spawn, and pack these into boxes. Outdoor culture: Once more: SEVERAL WEEKS OF COLD WEATHER (0-10C) ARE REQUIRED FOR FRUITING. The only edible, which can still be found here at the time when PCY-AO is fruiting is Lepista = Clitocybe nuda. Around LA or Miami you can probably produce spawn of PCY-AO but you would have to take it to a cooler place to fruit. Carpophores mature much slower than eg. thos of Psilocybe cubensis and provided with suitable conditions they produces spores slowly but abundantly. Water: If your bed is well drained, so that it cannot be over-watered, it can easily be watered automatically . PCY-AO likes very wet conditions, and often grows happily with water standing (literally) on their caps for days (at 0-10C). PCY-AO often has a very high content of water: one batch, harvested after a week of rain, contained only 5.5% dry matter. Sun: Here, about 48N, altitude 600m, when PCY-AO is fruiting, in october or november, the sun is pretty low and more than once PCY-AO placed the nicest group of fruiting bodies on the periphery of the bed and into a spot with some sunlight. A thermometer near the group on the closeup foto showed up to 35C sunlight but PCY-AO, supplied with enough water, seemed to enjoy that. Frost: Only quite hard frost (several degrees below 0C) will abort fruiting. This can be prevented a bit by covering the bed and watering. Wind: A dry wind can kill the growing mushrooms pretty fast, even when it is cold, unless the bed is well protected. For taking spore prints the cleaned caps were put onto paper and into a box, covered with a cloth and kept moist and cool for several days. For sacramental use the mushrooms should be dried without heat and then pulverized with a coffee grinder or kitchen machine, preferably mixing a larger amount of mushrooms, which might be of quite different strenght, into a standardized material. Eating whole dried mushrooms is very unreliable and the effects may be much weaker and/or considerably delayed. Proper drying and storage (airtight, dark, cold) even for years does not diminuish potency much. Every person who is to share this entheogen must be well informed and determine her own dosage, and each individual dosage should be measured reliably (no eating out of one pot)! Psiloc(yb)ine, which also happens to be the least toxic of all the drugs we use, was found in a hundred or more species of mushrooms, which grow (at least) all over this planet and is the most widely distributed fungal toxin known. It's shamanistic use on every continent has been documented but the influence on the development of womankind, which this entheogen has had particularly on the evolution of awareness and the origin of religion has not yet been grasped by many human minds (if any). The possibilities and benefits, which might grow from this symbiontic interspecies relationship in the future, lie truly beyond our imagination. Take care! Xceed (with delicacy)! See you, out there, at full moons... We (recommend you to) subscribe to: - MAPS, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, 1801 Tippah Ave., Charlotte, NC-28205; (704)358-9830; http://www.maps.org - The Entheogen Review, Entheogen Review, P.O. Box 800, El Rito, NM-87530 - TMC, The Mushroom Journal of the Florida Mycology Research Center, P.O. Box 8104, Pensacola, FL-32505 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ JOHNNY APPLESEED ON PSILOCYBE CYANESCENS The following article appeared in the Entheogen Review Psilocybe cyanescens is indeed the best variety of mushrooms for home cultivation, as reported in the Fall '95 ER. They are up to seven times as potent as Psilocybe cubensis and can be grown outdoors in all temperate climates with no need for sterile techniques. They grow on fresh chips of Alder, Maple and Fir. I have used fresh Alder (Alnus spp.) brush chipped in the Spring. I mix jars of spawn into garbage bags of fresh woodchips and lay one foot deep beds of the inoculated chips under bushes were they will receive permanent shade. They need to be reasonable damp during the year and covering the chip piles with several inches of leaves insures this. It takes two years to produce a harvest in my northern climate (near Canadian border). After the first year, the wood chips will be completely white with the developing mycelium. At the end of the second growing season, late in the Autum (November), they will fruit. Many times I have harvested my main crop in the first snows, they seem to like cold temperatures to fruit. Each bed will give only one good fruiting season. Therefore one needs to start new beds every year. Take a shovelful of the white chips from the one- year-old beds to inoculate fresh wood chips. This is a very low-tech and safe way to grow powerful mushrooms almost everywhere. Johnny Appleseed ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Paul Stamets and Jochen Gartz A new caerulescent Psilocybe from the Pacific Coast of Northwestern America Abstract: A new taxon from the Pacific Northwest of North American is described. This species can be placed into Stirps Cyanescens of the Sections Caerulescents Singer (Singer, 1948; Singer & Smith, 1958a) or into the more recently constructed Section Cyanescens as amended by Guzman (1983). This new species is autumnal and lignicolous, living in soils enriched with deciduous wood- debris, characterestic of riparian woodlands of the coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest of North America. Strongly bruising bluish to indigo-black, this Psilocybe species features a hazelnut to caramel-colored pileus and a stipe whose base radiates clusters of white rhizomorphs. This novel species is delineated through a combination of morphological and microscopic feautures and possesses unusally high concentrations of psilocybin, psilocin and baeocystin. Psilocybe azurescens Stamets & Gartz sp. nova Pileo ochreato-brunneo, hygrophano, viscido, pellicula separabili intructo, conico dein convexo, plano 30-100mm lato, umbonato. Lamellis sinuato-adnatis, pallidis vel brunneo. Stipite albo, stricto, elongato, 90-200mm, fibrillis cum strigositate basis caerulescentibus. Carne caerulescente. Sporis 12-13,5 x 6,5-8.0 um. Cystidiis fusoid-ventricosis. Cheilocystidiis 23-28 x 6.5-8.0 um; pleurocystidiis 23-35 x 9-10 um. Macroscopic Features: Pileus 30-100mm in diameter, conic to convex, expanding to broadly convex and eventually flattening with age with a pronounced, persistent broad umbo; surface smooth, viscous when moist, covered by a separable gelatinous pellicle; chestnut to ochraceous brown to caramel in color often becoming pitted with dark blue or bluish black zones, hygrophanous, fading to light straw color in drying, strongly bruising blue when damaged; margin even, sometimes irregular and eroded at maturity, slightly incurved at first, soon decurved, flattening with maturity, translucent striate and often leaving a fibrillose annular zone in the upper regions of the stem. Lamellae ascending, sinuate to adnate, brown, often stained info-black where injured, close, with two tiers of lamellulae, mottled, edges withish. Spore-print dark purplish brown to purplish black in mass. Stipe 90-200mm long by 3-6mm thick, silky white, dingy brown from the base or in age, hollow at maturity. Composed of twisted, cartilaginous tissue. Base of stem thickening downwards, often curved, and characterized by coarse white aerial tufts of mycelium, often with azure tones. Mycelium surrounding stipe base densely rhizomorphic, silky white, tenaciously holding the wood-chips together, strongly bruising bluish upon disturbance. Odor none to slightly farinaceous. Taste extremely bitter. Microscopic Features: Clamp connections abundant. Ixocutis gelatinous, hyaline hyphae, 1.5 - 5.5um in diameter. Sub-pellis a brownish band, more highly pigmented than pileal trama. Lamellar trama regular, composed of hyphae 5 - 15 um in diameter, slightly encrusted with brown pigments; subhumenium a subcellular compact layer, 10um thick. Pileal trama 5 - 15um thick. Pleurocystidia abundant, fusoid-ventricose, tapering to a narrow but short neck, bluntly papillate, 23-35 x 9-10 um. Cheilocystidia forming a nongelatinized sterile band, nearly identical to pleurocystidia measuring 23-28 x 6.5-8.0 um. Basidia 4-spored, measuring 27-30.5 x 6.3-7.2 um. Spores 12-13.5 x 6.5-8.0 um, rich reddish brown in KOH and light purplish vinaceous in aqeous ammoniacal solutions. Wall thickness less than 1 um. Caulocystidia abundant above the annular zone and similar to pleurocystidia but thicker walled and more irregular, measuring 43um long with undulated necks. Cortial hyphae on stipe slightly thickened, almost subgelatinized walls, 3 - 5 um in diameter with clamps and brown intra-perital pigment. Caulocystidia absent below annular zone. Tissue notably awash with bluish tones. Habit & Habitat: Cespitose to gregarious on deciduous wood-chips and/or in sandy soils rich in lignicolous debris. Aspect collyboid, generating an extensive, dense and tenacious mycelial mat, P. azurescens causes the whitening of wood. Fruitings begin in late September and continue until harsh frost, usually mid-November. Distribution: Specimens were first collected on an alluvial plain along the Columbia river network near Astoria, Oregon in 1979. Fruitings of this species are known from Oregon and Washington. Holotype: A dried collection of fruitbodies cultivated on alder (Alnus rubra) wood-chips using the methods described by Stamets (1993) outdoors, harvested on 11/21/93 and deposited at WTU. Original clone used for propagation was from Astoria, Oregon on 10/30/79. Additional collections from Tillamook and Astoria, Oregon in October 1990 were collected by one of the authors (Jochen Gartz) and deposited in LZ. Taxonomic Considerations: Psilocybe azurescens generally resembles Psilocybe bohemica Sebek, Psilocybe cyanofibrillosa Guzman & Stamets, Psilocybe cyanescens Wakefield, Psilocybe eucalypta Guzman & Walting, Psilocybe mairei Singer, Psilocybe serbica Moser & Horak and Psilocybe collybioides Singer & Smith. Complete reproductive barriers have been found be one of the authors (Jochen Gartz) between Psilocybe azurescens and P. bohemica as well as between P. azurescens and Pacific Northwest European collections of P.cyanescens. In it's natural habitat, the general aspect of Psilocybe azurescens is most similar to Psilocybe cyanofibrillosa Stamets & Guzman but differs in several significant macroscopic features. Psilocybe azurescens has pleurocystidia whereas Psilocybe cyanofibrillosa has long necked, lageniform cheilocystidia, often forked, while Psilocybe azurescens has singly formed, fusoid ventricose cheilocystidia with short necks. Macroscopically P. azurescens is much larger in form and quickly bruises bluish to indigo-black upon handling. The bruising reaction in P. cyanofibrillosa is less intense and comparatively slow in appearing, which directly reflects it's low psilocybin content (Bocks, 1968; Stamets et al. 1980). Both species are characterized by non- undulating pileal margins. Psilocybe azurescens also closely resembles a variety of Pacific Northwest Psilocybe widely reported as Psilocybe cyanescens Wakefield, a species originally discovered in the British Isles. This variety of Psilocybe cyanescens gained considerable notoriety in the mid-1970's (Weil, 1975, 1977; Pollock, 1975; Ott, 1975; Guzman & Ott, 1976; Guzman et al., 1976). Yet, this mushroom has probably been confused with other taxa. The mushroom portrayed in many popular field guides and identified as P. cyanescens (Arora, 1979 & 1991; Lincoff & Mitchel, 1977; Lincoff, 1981; Menser, 1977; Ott & Bigwood, 1978; Stamets, 1978) differs from the type in the relative number of surface cystidia. In the Pacific Northwest, P. azurescens can be macroscopically distinguished from P. cyanescens by the following combination of features. P. azurescens has a cap margin characteristically even, not undulating and has a persitent, pronounced umbo at the disc when the pileus fully expands. The variety of P. cyanescens from the Pacific Northwest is characterized by distinctive, exaggerated undulating margin, resembling a sine-wave at maturity and is notably non-umbonate. In general, P. azurescens, as it is presently understood, is substantially larger than most collections of P. cyanescens. Microscopically, the pleurocystidia in P. azurescens are mucronate whereas the Pacific Northwest form P. cyanescens can become distinctly capitate at maturity. Otherwise, the microscopic features of P. azurescens are largely coincident within the range reported for the Pacific Northwest P. cyanescens. Krieglsteiner (1984, 1986) extensively studies collections of Psilocybe from Europe, some of which were determined to be Psilocybe cyanescens. He proposed that Psilocybe mairei Singer, Psilocybe serbica Moser & Horak and Psilocybe bohemica could be conspecific with Psilocybe cyanescens Wakefield because these taxa could not be delineated microscopically. However, one significant feature which characterizes Psilocybe bohemica and separates this species from these aforementioned taxa and from Psilocybe azurescens is that the pilei of P. bohemica become white upon drying. Furthermore, one author (Jochen Gartz) has found complete reproductive barriers between 80 random pairings of monokaryons from Psilocybe azurescens, Psilocybe cyanescens and Psilocybe bohemica. Since monokaryons from single spore isolates from each of these species have proved to be incompatible, these taxa appear to be auto- nomous. Former research (Gartz, 1993) has also shown that complete repro- ductive barriers exist between Pacific Northwest strains of Psilocybe cyanescens and Czechoslovakian collections of Psilocybe bohemica. Mating studies paired single spore isolations and clamp connections failed to form, an indication of incompatibility. Furthermore, monokaryons from a collection of Psilocybe cyanescens (non-pleurocystidiate form) from Austria in October of 1992 also failed to form dikaryotic mycelia when paired with strains of Pacific Northwest Psilocybe cyanescens (pleurocystidiate form), Psilocybe azurescens and Psilocybe bohemica, respectively. A closely related species is Psilocybe eucalypta Guzman & Watling. Psilocybe eucalypta has smaller and narrower cheilocystidia, only 15-25 x 4.4-6.6 um in comparison to P. azurescens cheilocystidia which measure 23-28 x 6.5-8.0 um. Furthermore, P. azurescens produces a more massive fruitbody, with a pileal diameter of 30 to 100 mm whereas P. eucalypta is smaller, falling within a range of 15-38 mm. P. eucalypta has thus far only been reported from the region centering around eastern Australia. Lastly, Psilocybe serbica Moser & Horak (1968), a temperate species, can be easily separated from P. azurescens by it's lack of pleurocystidia and it's non-umbonate form. Another related species, Psilocybe collybioides Singer & Smith, known at present from Argentina, shares many features common to P. azurescens save for it's exceptionally small spores, measuring only 5.5-10 x 3.5-6.5 um. These com- binations of features separate P. azurescens from the aforementioned taxa. Psilocybe azurescens is being named for the soft blue tones present on the mushroom, before handling or damage, especially along the cap margin and in the basal mycelium. Additionally the name also honors the son of one of the authors (Paul Stamets). Chemical Analyses: In comparison to other species of Psilocybe, the fruitbodies of Psilocybe azurescens contain unusually high concentrations of psilocybin, psilocin and baeocystin - accumulating to more than 2% of the dry biomass of the mushrooms (Beug & Bigwood, 1982; Gartz, 1989, 1992-1994; Wurst et al., 1984). Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) reveals a nearly identical profile of extracts from P. semilanceata and P. azurescens (psilocybin, baeocystin and six minor alkaloids), differing only in psilocin content (Gartz, 1985). Baeocystin is present in high concentrations in P. azurescens and P. semilanceata. Gartz (1993) has determined that baeocystin is also a hallucinogenic compound. Research by Gartz (1989) showed alkaloid synthesis in Psilocybe cubensis (Earle) Singer is suppressed when the mycelium is grown using agar media supplemented with more than 10% mal sugar. P. azurescens reacts similarly. Research has also shown that alkaloid content is generally low in the mycelia compared to the fruitbodies. With Psilocybe cubensis, the main alkaloid synthesis occurs during the differentiation of the mycelia to the fruitbodies (Gartz & Muller, 1989). Further, younger fruitbodies frequently have higher alkaloid levels than more mature ones (Gartz, 1992/1993). As Table III shows, specimens grown outdoors in Germany did not vary significantly from those grown in the United States, after dehydratation, even when the supporting substrates were dissimilar. Table I Indole alkaloid content of collection (LZ) of wild fruitbodies of Psilocybe azurescens from Tillamook, Oregon, USA, October, 1989. Sample 1: 50mg dry weight, 1.71% Psilocybin, 0.34% Psilocin, 0.41% Baeocyst. Sample 2: 101mg dry weight, 1.68% Psilocybin, 0.28% Psilocin, 0.38% Baeocyst. Sample 3: 167mg dry weight, 1.56% Psilocybin, 0.30% Psilocin, 0.32% Baeocyst. Sample 4: 213mg dry weight, 1.51% Psilocybin, 0.31% Psilocin, 0.28% Baeocyst. Sample 5: 270mg dry weight, 1.40% Psilocybin, 0.28% Psilocin, 0.19% Baeocyst. Sample 6: 317mg dry weight, 1.29% Psilocybin, 0.26% Psilocin, 0.27% Baeocyst. Sample 7: 450mg dry weight, 1.20% Psilocybin, 0.25% Psilocin, 0.31% Baeocyst. Table II Indole alkaloid content from naturalized, outdoor cultivated specimens of Psilocybe azurescens, from Astoria, Oregon, USA, October, 1990. Sample 1: 062mg dry weight, 1.78% Psilocybin, 0.38% Psilocin, 0.35% Baeocyst. Sample 2: 123mg dry weight, 1.75% Psilocybin, 0.39% Psilocin, 0.36% Baeocyst. Sample 3: 170mg dry weight, 1.58% Psilocybin, 0.34% Psilocin, 0.37% Baeocyst. Sample 4: 224mg dry weight, 1.43% Psilocybin, 0.28% Psilocin, 0.31% Baeocyst. Sample 5: 331mg dry weight, 1.18% Psilocybin, 0.19% Psilocin, 0.25% Baeocyst. Sample 6: 472mg dry weight, 1.20% Psilocybin, 0.20% Psilocin, 0.21% Baeocyst. Table III Indole alkaloid content from dried, outdoor-cultivated, naturalized specimens of Psilocybe azurescens, from Germany (A) and USA (B). Sample 1: A - 156mg dry weight, 1.62% Psilocybin, 0.42% Psilocin, 0.38% Baeocystin B - 165mg dry weight, 1.72% Psilocybin, 0.38% Psilocin, 0.39% Baeocystin Sample 2: A - 213mg dry weight, 1.56% Psilocybin, 0,32% Psilocin, 0.28% Baeocystin B - 233mg dry weight, 1.62% Psilocybin, 0.25% Psilocin, 0.24% Baeocystin Sample 3: A - 312mg dry weight, 1.43% Psilocybin, 0.26% Psilocin, 0.31% Baeocystin B - 341mg dry weight, 1.32% Psilocybin, 0.25% Psilocin, 0.35% Baeocystin Sample 4: A - 412mg dry weight, 1.17% Psilocybin, 0.31% Psilocin, 0.28% Baeocystin B - 403mg dry weight, 1.21% Psilocybin, 0.38% Psilocin, 0.19% Baeocystin Sample 5: A - 450mg dry weight, 1.19% Psilocybin, 0.36% Psilocin, 0.24% Baeocystin B - 465mg dry weight, 1.24% Psilocybin, 0.24% Psilocin, 0.30% Baeocystin Table IV Variation of the amounts of alkaloids in the mycelium of Psilocybe azurescens depending on the concentration of malt extract in solidified agar (1,5%) after 3 weeks of colonization. 1% Malt Extract: 0.31% Psilocybin dry weight, 0.12% Psilocin, 0.12% Baeocyst. 2% Malt Extract: 0.25% Psilocybin dry weight, 0.09% Psilocin, 0.08% Baeocyst. 3% Malt Extract: 0.28% Psilocybin dry weight, 0.08% Psilocin, 0.05% Baeocyst. 4% Malt Extract: 0.27% Psilocybin dry weight, 0.04% Psilocin, 0.03% Baeocyst. 5% Malt Extract: 0.25% Psilocybin dry weight, 0.02% Psilocybin, 0% Baeocystin 6% Malt Extract: 0.18% Psilocybin dry weight, 0% Psilocin, 0% Baeocystin 8% Malt Extract: 0.05% Psilocybin dry weight, 0% Psilocin, 0% Baeocystin 10% Malt Extract: At and above 10% malt extract, the mycelium is non-blueing. Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank Scott Redhead and Roy Watling for reviewing the manuscript. The senior author is grateful to Michael Beug and The Evergreen State College for their continued support and to Azureus Stamets for his assistance in the field. The authors also express gratitude to G. K. Mueller from the University of Leipzig Herbarium (LZ) and Marta Semerdzieva of Prague. Paxton Hoag and Mark Herke are credited for first collecting this mushroom. John Allen and Eric Iseman helped in field collections. Notes: (1) A mushroom reportedly responsible for the death of a child in Kelso, Washington in 1962 was identified by Alexander Smith as Psilocybe baeocystis Singer & Smith (see McCawley et al., 1962; Singer & Smith, 1958a) From the Kelso site, cultures were isolated and mushrooms were grown from mycelial spawn. The cultured specimens have an aspect atypical of Psilocybe baeocystis Singer & Smith and strikingly typical of the Pacific Northwest form of Psilocybe cyanescens. These two species can be easily delineated from one another macroscopically. Furthermore, these authors know of no successes in cultivating P. baeocystis, despite many attempts. In contrast, P. cyanescens can easily be cultivated on wood-chip substrates. When one of the authors (Paul Stamets) noted these discrepancies to Alexander Smith (1982), he responded that the identification was tentative, made from poorly preserved spore material retrieved from stomach washings and was not without uncertainity. (2) Psilocybe cyanescens Wakefield was originally described from a collection at the Kew Gardens, Surrey, England. (See Dennis & Wakefield, 1946; Singer & Smith, 1958a; Guzman, 1983). The variety of P. cyanescens from the Pacific Northwest has abundant and conspicuous pleurocystidia, often with distinctive swollen apices, evenly dispersed over the surface plane of the lamellae. The type collection of P. cyanescens by Wakefield has so few surface cystidia that they could easily be overlooked (Wakefield, 1946; Singer & Smith, 1958b; Krieglsteiner, 1984). The discrepancies seen between these varieties may be significant at the species level. Further study of these taxa is warranted. (3) Chang & Mills (1992) propose that P. eucalypta is actually P. subaeruginosa. Guzman et al. (1993) strongly disagree with this synonymy. Krieglsteiner (1984, 1986) believes that P. eucalypta is conspecific with P. cyanescens. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------