Jochen Gartz - Magic Mushrooms Around the ... - preterhuman.net

Distribution Patterns of Psilocybe cyanescens
in the Wake of Environmental Changes
In 1973, Semerdzieva and Nerud first
reported the existence and qualitative content of
psilocybin in collections of Psilocybe bohemica.
This research team reported psilocybin levels of
up to 1.1 % in dried samples. Results from my
own studies also revealed variable levels of
alkaloids in different mushrooms collected at the
one location near Sazava.
In spite of the intense blue staining
reaction, there is very little or no psilocin in
mushrooms of the European Psilocybe cyanescens
complex. By chemical-taxonomic standards,
European collections are very different from
Psilocybe cyanescens samples collected in the
Pacific Northwest of the United States. The latter
are known to contain up to 1 % psilocin (dried
mushrooms) as well as an equally high level of
psilocybin (for a total alkaloid level of 2 %),
making it one of the most potent species in North
America. The study of extracts derived from these
mushrooms revealed that enough psilocin was
present for the oxidized compound to be visible
on a thin-layer chromatography plate. This was
not the case when similar analyses were
performed on mushrooms collected in the former
Czechoslovakia. However, mushrooms from both
countries contain similarly low levels of
baeocystin.
Generally we can say that this potently
psychoactive and conspicuous species is in the
process of expanding its habitat across Europe.
Increasing use of fertilizer, the acidification of the
soil in many regions and the presence in any wet
forest or park of a variety of fertile substrates,
such as mulch, not dependent on the presence of
dung, are all factors that will likely help Psilocybe
cyanescens achieve a remarkably wide area of
distribution in the future.
Figure 26 - Psilocybe bohemica on twigs and compost.