Passed these through Mushrooms Demystified - I got the one pretty confidently, the darker one I'm not sure of. Thoughts? http://imgur.com/a/hCJ5i#0 http://imgur.com/a/fLZBV
it was growing in what looked like a mulchy area, maybe next to a stump or tree - not sure. the smell was pleasant, sweetish and got pretty strong as it stayed at room temperature. a small taste was not bitter at all, but it was a small nibble (not sure how big tastes should be.
Here is one of my papers where i discuss taste and smell of mushrooms - and Gymnopilus. http://namyco.org/images/pdf_files/Hallock.pdf
awesome I'll give it a read. question about etiquette: is the mycological community generally wary of answering questions about psilocybes? I posted this here and the NYMS group and its received comparatively little attention. though im not looking for them specifically, I'd understand the hesistance, I'm just wondering whether it's a no-no.
there is a hesitancy to answer questions about hallucinogenic mushrooms. I teach about toxicology so i think I would be doing the community a disservice to not answer questions about any particular group of toxic mushrooms (and i certainly don't advocate for their consumption). I've found G. spectabilis (or at least what Lincoff calls G. spectabilis) on every mushroom hike in the past 2 weeks, and figure you have the same. But it should taste intensely bitter, after about 10 seconds of chewing around a decent nibble (just spit it out when after you taste the bitterness).
and the other orange ones do look like Omphalotus. Put some fresh ones in a bag, go in a dark room for 5 minutes. Let your eyes acclimate to the darkness and then open the bag. See if the glow.
ah, I didn't chew long enough. and I also didn't look for bioluminesence correctly - just went in for a couple of seconds, saw nothing and assumed that was it. very useful, thanks!
Hi Gasdark, I'm frequently asked about Psilocybes in the various venues of my mushrooming life, and there are two reasons for my minimalist responses. First I'm mostly a forest habitat fungi person, so the only P. species I run into is Psilocybe montana, which is cute little thing, but not of much interest to folks from a psychoactivity point of view. Second, I've gotten a bit bored with Psilocybe questions, through repetition over the years, so it's not a question that stimulates me to respond. My current mycological interest changes from year to year, but some topics have become stale for me, but maybe I'll get back to these topics in future years, with a fresh point of view. Also, actually, there are some online forums specializing in this genus/topic, so I would expect / hope for a deeper and/or broader level of knowledge about this genus to be found there, from folks who cultivate or otherwise have learned interesting things from focussing strongly on this area. cheers! frog
That makes sense to me. To be clear, I'm just trying to get better at identifying all mushrooms rather than looking for hallucinogenics. But if I should find one that keys out to a Psilocybe I'll post it to the appropriate forum. Thanks very much - excellent community here.
