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

CHAPTER 3.5
GYMNOPILUS PURPURATUS - MAGNIFICENT MUSHROOMS
FROM SOUTH AMERICA
Another controversy documented in the literature
revolves around the psychoactivity of several
species of the genus Gymnopilus.
More than 50 years ago, in October 1942, a
remarkable case of intoxication occurred m
Cleveland, Ohio, which was attributed to Pholiota
spectabilis. Today, these mushrooms have
been identified as Gymnopilus spectabilis (Fr.)A.H.
Smith (USA). In Europe, they are also Known as
Gymnopilus junonius (Fr.) Orton.
A woman had been out for a walk in the woods one
afternoon and had taken a few nibbles from a
mushroom that she found, feeling confident that she
could distinguish the edible from the poisonous ones.
As soon as she lay down, she began to experience the
most glorious visions of color and sounds of music,
but with no feelings of discomfort whatsoever. A
friend who was with her felt that a doctor should be
called immediately. When she consulted me about
her symptoms, I told her that certain mushrooms are
known to cause the symptoms she suffered. I
added that these mushrooms were not classified as
poisonous, nor did the effects last very long.
called that same evening and said that the
hallucinations had soon passed and that she was
feeling perfectly normal again. She added that if this
was the way one was supposed to die of mushroom
poisoning, she was all for it.
Another case of poisoning was chronicled in
Harvard, Massachusetts:
On September 9, 1966, at about 9 a.m., a 56~yearold
retired mechanical engineer of Harvard,
Massachusetts, picked a bunch of mushrooms
clustered by the side of the road in front of his house.
Under the mistaken impression that they were honey
mushrooms (Armillaria mellea an edible species) he
tasted the fresh flesh and found them to be slightly
bitter However, he took them home, where his wife
washed them and fried them in butter. He ate
two or three caps around noon and within 15
minutes began to feel disconnected and "woozy" .
head felt numb and his vision was blurred.
The room seemed smaller, and the walls closer than
usual. Objects were shimmering, and appeared
yellow with dark areas in the center. The trees and
grass were a vivid green, with spots of radiant
purple. These sensations were not unpleasant.
Everything seemed to be unnaturally colored,
resembling the image of a color TV. Even though he
was unable to collect his thoughts, his mind felt sharp
and clear: he asked himself questions and
immediately knew the answers. By contrast, after
having put down a book, he was unable to find it
again. After a few hours all three of the involuntary
participants had recovered and were able to give a
coherent account of their experience.
In this case, the mushrooms involved were
also identified as Pholiota spectabilis. This
identification is questionable, however, because
the species is generally described as having an
extremely bitter taste. It was determined that there
are significantly more species of the genus
Gymnopilus in North America (73) than there are in
Europe (15).
Mushrooms 24 Inches Tall!
Even though Gymnopilus junionius is one
of the largest-sized species of mushrooms (with
stems that have been observed to grow up to 24
inches [60 cm] tall), there are no known European
cases of intoxications caused by Gymnopilus
species. The extremely bitter taste typical of some
Gymnopilus species is an effective deterrent to
their ingestion as table mushrooms, anyway.
However, the cases of intoxication in the
U.S. prompted Hatfield and his collaborators to
perform phytochemical testing on some of these
species. From 1968 to 1971 this group of
investigators reported that eight species, including
Gymnopilus junonius contained inactive
styrylpyrones, such as bis-noryangonin. In the
wake of yet another case of unintentional