Psilocybe ovoideocystidiata is a psilocybin-containing mushroom first documented in Pennsylvania and also known from Ohio and West Virginia and New Jersey. This mushroom bruises blue where handled and has been put into the Stuntzii section of Psilocybe because it has subrhomboid thick walled spores and an annulus. It is closely related to P. subaeruginascens from Java, P. septentrionalis from Japan, and P. wayanadensis from India.

This mushroom was first documented by Richard V. Gaines in Montgomery County in June 2003 and has become common in the Ohio river valley. Often found in the woody debris of overflow areas, along rivers and streams, from mid April to mid June.

It is sometimes confused with Psilocybe caerulipes, it can be distinguished by its rhomboid spores, larger stature, earlier season and membranous annulus.

Some specimens of Psilocybe ovoideocystidiata turn blue immediately when bruised, while others have a delayed or almost absent bluing reaction. The mushroom often turns blue in the absence of bruising as it dries out.

Description

• Cap: 1 to 4.5 cm across,convex to subumbonate, chestnut or orangish brown to yellowish brown, hygrophanous, smooth, sub-viscid, translucent-striate near the margin, from slightly to highly undulated in maturity, with irregular yellowish, brownish, or bluish tones, sometimes white when dry. Flesh thick, pliant.
• Gills: adnate attachment and range from whitish to rusty brown, lavender, or dark purple brown.
• Spores: Dark purple brown, rhomboid to subrhomboid in face view, subellipsoid in side view, 8 x 6 micrometers.
• Stipe: 1.5 to 9 cm by 1-7 mm, hollow, equal, somewhat subbulbous, base sometimes hypogeous, smooth at the top and often having small scales near the bottom, colored whitish with irregular yellowish, brownish, or bluish tones. The partial veil is variable, ranging from a thin cortina that leaves a barely perceptible annular zone, to a substantial membrane that leaves a fairly persistent annulus.
• Taste: farinaceous
• Odor: farinaceous
• Microscopic features: Two types of cheilocystidia and pleurocystidia are present.

This mushroom quickly (after a few minutes) bruises blue when damaged.

External links

• Psilocybe ovoideocystidiata distribution map
• Mushroom Observer - Psilocybe ovoideocystidiata
• Psilocybe ovoideocystidiata microscopy composite photo
• New Species of Hallucinogenic Psilocybe from the Eastern U.S.A.
• The Shroomery: contains knowledge contributed by individuals in the Hunting Forums.

References