Psilocybe montana

Psilocybe montana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Basidiomycota
Class:	Agaricomycetes
Order:	Agaricales
Family:	Strophariaceae
Genus:	Psilocybe
Species:	P. montana
Binomial name
Psilocybe montana (Pers.) P. Kumm. (1871)

Psilocybe montana
Mycological characteristics
	gills on hymenium
	cap is convex
	hymenium is adnate
	stipe is bare
	spore print is purple-brown
	ecology is saprotrophic
	edibility: unknown

Psilocybe montana, commonly known as the mountain moss Psilocybe, is the type species of mushroom genus Psilocybe.^[1] Because it does not contain hallucinogenic tryptamine derivatives like psilocybin or psilocin,^[2][3] it does not stain blue when handled, unlike other typical hallucinogenic members of this genus. It is usually found growing in mossy areas, often in montane regions. The appearance is that of a typical "little brown mushroom"—with a small, brown cap and a straight, thin stipe, growing separately or in clumps with others.

Description

The cap is 0.5–1.5 cm in diameter, initially convex in shape but flattening in age, sometimes with a broad umbo. The cap is moist, glabrous, hygrophanous, and has radial striations to the center; the color is brown to dark-brown. The gills are adnate to broadly adnate or sometimes very shortly decurrent, and of the same color as the cap. The stipe is 1.5–4 cm long, 1–2 mm thick, smooth, the same color as the cap, and brittle. Spores are typically 7.5–10 × 6–8 × 5–5.5 µm and ovate–lentiform in shape with a thickened wall.^[4] A large spored variety (spore dimensions of 8.5–11 × 6.0–8.5 × 5.0–7.0 µm), Psilocybe montana var. macrospora Noordel. & Verduin (1999), has also been reported from the Netherlands.^[5] The spore print is dark greyish-brown.^[6]

Habitat

Psilocybe montana is saprobic, possibly also parasitic. It is often associated with mosses such as Brachythecium albicans, B. mutabulum, Campylopus introflexus, Ceratodon purpureus, Dicranum scoparium, Eurhynchium hians, E. praelongum, E. speciosum, Rhacomitrium canescens, Pohlia species or Polytrichum piliferum.^[7] It is commonly found in exposed situations such as dune-meadows, heaths and tree-less tundra, and open Pinus forests, usually on nutrient-poor, well-drained soil.^[8]

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  Psilocybe montana on moss.

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  Psilocybe montana

Distribution

The species has a worldwide, almost cosmopolitan distribution and has been reported from a variety of regions in a wide range of climates, including:

• Britain (Thetford Forest)^[9]
• California, USA[2]
• the Caribbean^[10]
• China (western Kunlun Mountains)^[11]
• Colombia (high plains of Guasca)^[12]
• Greenland^[13]
• Mexico^[14]
• Nepal^[15]
• Norway^[16]
• in alpine tundra^[17] as well as subalpine regions in Switzerland^[18]
• in the region formerly known as the USSR^[19]
• in the Venezuelan Andes^[2] and ^[3]
• in moss at high elevations in Idaho and Montana^[4]:590
• in Arctic tundra.^[4]:590

They have also been reported growing in Chemnitz, Germany, on vegetation-covered flat roofs.^[20]

References

1. ^ Singer, R. (1975). The Agaricales in Modern Taxonomy. J. Cramer, Vaduz. 912 p.
2. ^ ^{a b} Salazar, F.; Marcano, V.; Castellano, F.; Martinez, L.; Morales, A. (1994). "Chemical and microstructural study of the genus Psilocybe (Agaricales) in the Venezuelan Andes: Part I. Psilocybe montana (Pers. ex Fr.) Kummer". Ernstia 4 (1–2): 11–19. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Marcano, V., Morales Méndez, A., Castellano, F., Salazar, F. J., Martinez, L. (July 1994). "Occurrence of psilocybin and psilocin in Psilocybe pseudobullacea (Petch) Pegler from the Venezuelan Andes". Journal of Ethnopharmacology 43 (2): 157–9. doi:10.1016/0378-8741(94)90013-2. PMID 7967656. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} Miller, O. K. Jr.; Laursen, G. A.; Farr, D. F. (1982). "Notes on Agaricales from Arctic Tundra in Alaska". Mycologia 74 (4): 576–591. JSTOR 3792745. 
5. ^ Bas, Cornelis (1988). Flora agaricina Neerlandica: critical monographs on families of agarics and boleti occurring in the Netherlands. Rotterdam: A.A. Balkema. ISBN 90-5410-492-9. 
6. ^ Gastón Guzmán (1983). The genus Psilocybe: a systematic revision of the known species including the history, distribution and chemistry of the hallucinogenic species. Berlin: J. Cramer. ISBN 3-7682-5474-7. 
7. ^ Lamoure, D. (1977). "Agaricales de la zone alpine. Psilocybe chionophila, sp. nov". Bull. Soc. Linn. Lyon 46: 213–217. 
8. ^ [1]
9. ^ Parker-Rhodes, A. F. (1953). "The Basidiomycetes of Thetford Chase. I. Correlation with age of plantation". New Phytologist 52 (1): 65–70. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.1953.tb05206.x. 
10. ^ Guzmán, G.; Tapia, F.; Ramírez-Guillén, F.; Baroni, T. J.; Lodge, D. J; Cantrell, S. A.; Nieves-Rivera, A. M. (2003). "New species of Psilocybe in the Caribbean, with an emendation of P. guilartensis". Mycologia 95 (6): 1171–1180. JSTOR 3761918. PMID 21149019. 
11. ^ Zang, M.; Xia, Y. (1989). "Notes on the fungi from Western Kunlun Mountains China". Acta Botanica Yunnanica 11 (4): 397–406. http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTOTAL-YOKE198904001.htm. 
12. ^ Nieves-Rivera, A. M.; Flores, Santos; Betancourt, C. (1997). "Notes on the Agaricales of the high plains of Guasca, Cundinamarca Department, Colombia". Caldasia 19 (1–2): 349–51. 
13. ^ Lange, M. (1955). Macromycetes Part II, Greenland Agaricales. Meddel. Grønland. 147:1–69.
14. ^ Guzman, G.; Varela, L.; Ortiz, J. P. (1977). "The known non-hallucinogenic species of Psilocybe in Mexico" (PDF). Boletin de la Sociedad Mexicana de Micologia 11: 23–24. http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/pdf/883/88302005.pdf. 
15. ^ Guzman, G.; Kasuya, T. (2004). "The known species of Psilocybe (Basidiomycotina, Agaricales, Strophariaceae) in Nepal". Mycoscience 45 (4): 295–297. doi:10.1007/s10267-004-0186-8. 
16. ^ Hoiland, K. (1978). "The genus Psilocybe in Norway". Nordic Journal of Botany 25 (2): 111–122. 
17. ^ Favre, J. (1955). Les champignons supérieurs de la zone alpine du Parc National Suisse. Vol. 5. Druck Ludin AG. Liestal, Switzerland. pp. 1–212.
18. ^ Favre, J. (1960). Catalogue descriptif des champignons supérieurs de la zone subalpine du Parc National Suisse. Vol. 6. Druck Ludin AG. Liestal, Switzerland. pp. 323–610.
19. ^ Urbonas, V. A. (1978). "The taxonomy and range of fungi of the family Strophariaceae in the USSR. Part 3. The genus Psilocybe". Lietuvos TSR Mokslu Akademijos Darbai Serija C Biologijos Mokslai 1: 9–18. 
20. ^ Berthold, S.; Otto, P. (2005). "Studies of diversity and habitat preference of fungi and lichens on vegetation-covered flat roofs in Chemnitz (Saxony)". Boletus 28 (1): 37–47. 

Further reading

• Stamets, P. (1996). Psilocybin mushrooms of the world. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA, USA. 245 pp. (p. 132)

External links

• Index Fungorum synonyms
• California Fungi
• BioImages Photos from various angles
• Mushroom Observer Photos of various P. montana sightings