Psilocybe samuiensis

Psilocybe samuiensis is a psychedelic mushroom, which has psilocybin and psilocin as main active compounds. It was placed in the Section Mexicanae of genus Psilocybe by Gastón Guzmán due to its rhomboid-shaped spores. It has been found in Koh Samui, a small tropical island in Thailand, where some psychoactive species are consumed by both natives and tourists.[1]

Psilocybe samuiensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Basidiomycota
Class:	Agaricomycetes
Order:	Agaricales
Family:	Strophariaceae
Genus:	Psilocybe
Species:	P. samuiensis
Binomial name
Psilocybe samuiensis Guzmán, Bandala & Allen

Psilocybe samuiensis
float Mycological characteristics
	gills on hymenium
	cap is conical or umbonate
	hymenium is adnate
	stipe is bare
	spore print is purple-brown
	ecology is saprotrophic
	edibility: psychoactive

Description

The cap is typically 7–15 mm in diameter, almost convex to conic in shape, umbonate with a small papilla. The cap is viscid and has a separable pellicle. It is a reddish-brown color when moist, but becomes lighter brown when dry. The stipe is 4.0–6.5 cm high × 1.5 cm thick, equal or slightly bulbous. The stipe is hollow, whitish in color, and covered with white fibrils. It is the same color as the cap, and stains blue when bruised. The odor and taste are slightly like grain meal (farinaceous). Spores have been recorded in the range of 10.4-12.8 by 6.4-8 μm and have a thick wall with a flattened, broad germ pore.

Habitat

Psilocybe samuiensis was first picked in soil containing mixtures of sand and clay west of the village of Ban Hua Thanon, in Koh Samui. Since then it is now known to occur in Ranong Province in Thailand and also at Angkor Wat in Siem Riap, Kampuchea; and verified by Gaston Guzman. It grows scattered to gregarious in rice paddies, fruiting from early July to late August.[2]

Chemistry

Analysed by HPLC and TLC, psilocybin and psilocin in the fruit bodies ranged from 0.023–0.90% (dry weight) and 0.05–0.81%, respectively. Baeocystin was also detected at the concentration of 0.01–0.05%.[3]

See also

• List of Psilocybin mushrooms

References

1. Allen JW, Merlin MD. (1992). "Psychoactive fungi use in Koh Samui and Koh Pha-Ngan, Thailand". Journal of Ethnopharmacology 35(3): 205–228.
2. Guzmán, Gastón; Bandala, Victor M.; Allen, John W. (Jan–Mar 1993). "A new bluing Psilocybe from Thailand". Mycotaxon. 46: 155–160.
3. Gartz J, Allen JW, Merlin MD. (1994). "Ethnomycology, biochemistry, and cultivation of Psilocybe samuiensis Guzmán, Bandala and Allen, a new psychoactive fungus from Koh Samui, Thailand". Journal of Ethnopharmacology 43(2): 73–80.

Further reading

• Stamets, Paul (1996). Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press. ISBN 0-9610798-0-0.