Community find

Golden Teacher

Psilocybe cubensis

Group

gilled mushroom

Spore print

Dark purple-brown to blackish

Size

Cap: 2-8 cm in diameter; Stipe: 4-15 cm long and 0.5-1.5 cm thick.

Season

Often found during periods of high humidity and rainfall, such as the monsoon season in tropical areas or late summer in subtropical zones.

Habitat

Found in subtropical and tropical environments, growing primarily on the dung of large herbivores such as cattle in humid pastures.

Distribution

Widely distributed throughout the Gulf Coast of the United States, Central and South America, Southeast Asia, and Australia.

Key characteristics

The dried specimens show a brown to gold cap that becomes bell-shaped or convex, typically with a thick stem that may show blue-green bruising when handled or dried. Gills are closely spaced and transition from pale to dark purple-brown.

Fruiting body

In its fresh state, the cap is 2-8 cm broad, conic to convex, and viscid when moist. The stipe is 4-15 cm long, white to yellowish, often with a persistent ring-like veil. The dried specimens appear shriveled, tan-brown, and may exhibit blueish oxidation marks.

How to recognise it

Key features include the dark purple-brown spore print, the presence of a persistent annulus (ring) on the stem, and the distinct blue-green bruising when the tissue is damaged.

Look-alikes

Psilocybe cyanescens, Psilocybe azurescens, and several Panaeolus species which also exhibit dark spore prints and blue bruising.

Ecological role

Saprophytic, meaning it breaks down organic matter, specifically herbivore dung, back into simpler nutrients for the soil.

Notes

This species is one of the most widely cultivated fungi for research purposes. It was first described scientifically by Franklin Sumner Earle in Cuba in 1906, hence the name 'cubensis'.