Blueleg Brownie

Psilocybe cyanescens

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Appears in
Mushrooms

By Roger Phillips

Published 2006

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Blueleg Brownie Psilocybe cyanescens Wakef. (illustrated 50% life size) Cap 2–4cm across, convex then expanded and irregularly wavy; hygrophanous, reddish-buff drying ochraceous-cream, developing blue-green tints when handled. Stem 25–50×5–8mm; white, bruising strongly blue to blue-green; cortinate ring forming indistinct ring zone. Flesh whitish, tinged bluish in places; smell mealy. Gills adnate; pale ochre-clay at first, becoming dark brown. Spores 9–12×5–7¼, elliptical to almond-shaped. Spore print dark purplish-brown. Chrysocystidia absent. Cheilocystidia lageniform, thin-walled. Habitat on rotting sawdust, bark mulch, and other herbaceous debris; late autumn to early winter. Uncommon, but spreading due to the increased use of woodchip mulch. Hallucinogenic said to be extremely strong.