''Gymnopilus validipes'' is a mushroom in the family

Hymenogastraceae The Hymenogastraceae is a family of fungi in the order Agaricales with both agaric and false-truffle shaped fruitbodies. Formerly, prior to molecular analyses, the family was restricted to the false-truffle genera. The mushroom genus ''Psilocybe' ...

. It is widely distributed in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Description

* Pileus: 7.5 — 15 cm, convex to broadly convex, margin deeply incurved at first, becoming revolute with age, dry, fibrillose or with small ochraceous brown scales, pale-yellow or ochraceous buff, flesh soft, whitish, yellowish near the gills. *Gills: Adnate to uncinate, close, thin, yellowish white becoming cinnamon. *Spore print: Orangish brown. * Stipe: 10 — 13 cm long, 2.5 – 5 cm. thick, equal or swelling in the middle, fleshy-fibrous, solid, elastic, fibrillose,

concolorous ''Photedes extrema'', the concolorous, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1809. It is found in most of Europe (except Iceland, Ireland, the Iberian Peninsula, Norway, Italy, Bulgaria and Greece ...

, white within, the cortina leaves only a faint ring on the stalk. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''validipes'' means "having a robust stalk". *Taste: Mild, standing in contrast to closely related bitter-tasting species. *Odor: Pleasant. *Microscopic features: Spores 8 — 10 X 5 — 6 μm, ellipsoid. ''Gymnopilus validipes'' contains the hallucinogens

psilocybin Psilocybin ( , ) is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug compound produced by more than 200 species of fungi. The most potent are members of the genus ''Psilocybe'', such as '' P. azurescens'', '' P. semilanceata'', and '' P.&nbs ...

and

psilocin Psilocin (also known as 4-HO-DMT, 4-hydroxy DMT, psilocine, psilocyn, or psilotsin) is a substituted tryptamine alkaloid and a serotonergic psychedelic substance. It is present in most psychedelic mushrooms together with its phosphorylated counte ...

, the latter at a concentration of around 0.12%.Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World
/ref>

Habitat and formation

''Gymnopilus validipes'' is found growing

gregarious Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in social groups (gregariousness) and form cooperative societies. Sociality is a survival response to evolutionary pressures. For example, when a mother wasp ...

(in groups) to

cespitose This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

(in dense clumps) on tree stumps, hardwood logs and debris, widespread in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, common from the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

and eastward.

References

* * Hesler, L. R. (1969). North American species of Gymnopilus. New York: Hafner. 117 pp. {{Taxonbar, from=Q5625033 validipes Entheogens Psychoactive fungi Psychedelic tryptamine carriers Fungi of North America Fungi of Europe Taxa named by Charles Horton Peck

Description

Habitat and formation

See also

References