''Psilocybe subaeruginosa'' is a species of
agaric fungus in the family
Hymenogastraceae described in 1927 and known from Australia
and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
As a blueing member of the genus ''
Psilocybe
''Psilocybe'' ( ) is a genus of gilled mushrooms, growing worldwide, in the family Hymenogastraceae. Most or nearly all species contain the psychedelic compounds psilocybin and psilocin.
Taxonomy
Taxonomic history
A 2002 study of the mole ...
'' it contains the
psychoactive
A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, psychoactive agent or psychotropic drug is a chemical substance, that changes functions of the nervous system, and results in alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition or behavior.
Th ...
compounds
psilocin and
psilocybin.
Taxonomy
''Psilocybe subaeruginosa'' was first
described in 1927 by Australian mycologist
John Burton Cleland
Sir John Burton Cleland CBE (22 June 1878 – 11 August 1971) was a renowned Australian naturalist, microbiologist, mycologist and ornithologist. He was Professor of Pathology at the University of Adelaide and was consulted on high-level po ...
.
The species name refers to the colour of the blueing reaction when the
fruitbodies are damaged or handled - the feminine Latin adjective
aeruginosa describes copper rust, which is verdigris or blue-green.
A
type
Type may refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc.
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* File type
* TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file.
* Ty ...
collection was not formally designated by Cleland, and the collection examined later by Guzman and Watling and called the type, with distinctive brown cystidia,
is missing from Cleland's collections in Adelaide. A formal
lectotype from
Belair National Park
Belair National Park (formerly known as the National Park and as Belair Recreation Park) is a protected area in Belair, South Australia, southeast of Adelaide city centre; it covers an area of . It was proclaimed in 1891 and was the first nation ...
Australia has since been designated
(AD 5603/Cleland 13256) but without details of habitat and substrate, making an authentic concept of the species difficult to verify.
A 1992 study comparing the
morphology
Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to:
Disciplines
*Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts
*Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...
and mating compatibility of ''P. australiana'', ''P. eucalypta'', ''P. subaeruginosa'' and ''
P. tasmaniana'' suggested the four were
synonymous
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...
and proposed combining them as ''P. subaeruginosa''.
The idea was rejected by the authors of the later species,
Gastón Guzmán
Gastón Guzmán Huerta (August 26, 1932 – January 12, 2016), a Mexican mycologist and anthropologist, was an authority on the genus ''Psilocybe''.
Career
He was born in Xalapa, Veracruz, in 1932. His interest in mycology began in 1955 when as ...
calling the comparisons "confused" and reprinting descriptions the same year. Despite this objection the proposal was accepted in 1995, with the exception of ''P. tasmaniana'', which was excluded for having characteristics that did not suit the synonymy, and the specimen examined as ''P. tasmaniana'' being misidentified.
Description
The
cap averages 12–50 mm in diameter. It is conical to conic-convex with slightly inrolled edges when young, and becomes convex, often slightly upturned, sub-gibbous, or sometimes with a small acute umbo. It is slightly tacky. There may be veil remnants at the margin when young. Coloured yellow-brown to orange-brown, paler towards the margin, which is a little striate,
hygrophanous, fading in drying to pallid biscuit brown or pale orange-yellow. The cap stains greenish blue with age or handling and the flesh inside is whitish. The
gills are moderately close, pale smoky brown when young, violet-brown or brownish