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

CHAPTER 3.4
INOCYBE AERUGINASCENS: FAST-SPREADING NEW ARRIVALS
On June 15, 1965, 1. Ferencz discovered
fruiting bodies known as "fibrehead mushrooms" in
Osca, Hungary, county of Pest. The mushrooms'
characteristics did not match those of any known
species of the genus Inocybe, as described in the
literature. That same year, as well as on several
occasions later on, Ferencz and other mycologists
found large numbers of mushrooms of the same
species growing in different locations. Eventually,
in 1968, these mushrooms were described as a new
species named Inocybe aeruginascens Babos (see
Figure 33, p. 47).
Strange Distribution Patterns in
Hungary and Germany
In 1985, a few mycologists who
specialized in the study of the genus Inocybe found
fibreheads with greenish discolorations in 17
locations (46 specimens) across Hungary. In her
1983 article, Babos noted that Inocybe
aeruginascens had become the most common
mushroom of the Lower Valley's sandy areas
around the Hungarian capital city of Budapest. The
species is known to fruit across these areas, singly
or in gregarious clusters on the sandy soil of the
poplar forests, or in mixed forests that include
poplars. They have also been found on meadows
near poplar trees. The mushrooms are loyal to the
location and grow there every year, climate
conditions permitting.
In 1975, Kaspar collected the Inocybe
species in Berlin (K6penick District) as well. More
detailed studies revealed that the mushrooms had
previously been misidentified. As early as 1965,
fruiting bodies of the species were found in the.
arboretum at Berlin (Baumschulenweg District).
The species had been noted "in passing" by other
mycologists with little interest in the mushrooms.
Many species (about 160) of the large European
Inocybe genus cannot be easily differentiated from
each other, and therefore attract little interest from
expert mycologists. The species are part of a
large group of mushrooms that are nicknamed
"LBMs" (Little Brown Mushrooms) in the
American literature and as such they often entail
considerable taxonomic problems. Other examples
of mushrooms in this group are the
Panaeolus species as well as those of the genus
Psilocybe.
Whenever a "new mushroom" appears
spontaneously, the question of its origin has to
be addressed. Herink, the Czech mycologist,
maintains that he had already discovered the
species during the 1930s. He reportedly
deposited samples in a herbarium, but the
mushrooms have never been clearly identified as
Inocybe aeruginascens on the basis of
biochemical analyses. As fruiting bodies of the
Inocybe aeruginascens were found
simultaneously in Hungary and Germany, the
direction of the species' geographical migration
could not be determined. It is possible
that the species was initially confined to a very
small area and only began to attract attention
after it had migrated into new habitats. We can
only speculate about the possibility of mutations
that may have evolved from known species over
a relatively short period of time.
Finally, during the 1980s, a few fruiting
bodies were collected at locations in Holland
(1980) and the Rhone Valley (Wallis Canton) of
Switzerland (1984).
In 1983, the species immediately
attracted the attention of biochemists and
clinicians, after G. Drewitz described mysterious
psychotropic intoxications caused by these
mushrooms in the city and district of Potsdam,
Germany, during June and July, 1980. The
observed range of effects was sensational for
mushrooms of the Inocybe genus, because many
of its species induce typical muscarine poisoning
symptoms. Muscarine causes parasympatheticomimetic
symptoms, such as pupil contraction
(miosis), increased salivation and saliva
production. Muscarine has been identified in at
least 40 species of the Inocybe genus. The
first reports