Psilocybe Tampanensis

Psilocybe tampanensis is a very rare psychedelic mushroom in the family Hymenogastraceae.

Originally collected in the wild in a sandy meadow near Tampa, Florida, in 1977, the fungus would not be found in Florida again until 44 years later.^[2] The original Florida specimen was cloned, and descendants remain in wide circulation.

The fruit bodies (mushrooms) produced by the fungus are yellowish-brown in color with convex to conic caps up to 2.4 cm (0.9 in) in diameter atop a thin stem up to 6 cm (2.4 in) long.

Psilocybe tampanensis forms psychoactive truffle-like sclerotia that are known and sold under the nickname “philosopher’s stones”.

The fruit bodies and sclerotia are consumed by some for recreational or entheogenic purposes.

In nature, sclerotia are produced by the fungus as a rare form of protection from wildfires and other natural disasters.

Psilocybe Tampanensis Description

The cap ranges in shape from convex or conic with a slight umbo, expanding in age to become flattened or with a slight central depression; it reaches diameters of 1–2.4 cm (0.4–0.9 in).

The surface is smooth, not striate (grooved), ochraceous brown to straw brown,

buff to yellowish-grey when dry, with slight bluish tones at the margin, hygrophanous, and somewhat sticky when wet.

The gills are more or less adnate (broadly attached to the stem slightly above the bottom of the gill,

with most of the gill fused to the stem) and brown to dark purple brown in color with lighter edges.

The stem is 2–6 cm (0.8–2.4 in) long, 1–2 mm (0.04–0.08 in) thick,

and equal in width throughout to slightly enlarged near the base. There are fibrils near the top of the stem.

The partial veil is cortinate (cobweb-like, similar to the partial veil of Cortinarius species), and soon disappears.

The flesh is whitish to yellowish, and bruises blue when injured.

The taste and odor are slightly farinaceous (similar to freshly ground flour).^[1][6]

Spores may appear somewhat rhombic to ellipsoid in shape, depending upon the angle from which they are viewed.

The spore print is purple-brown.

When viewed with a microscope, the spores of P. tampanensis are somewhat rhombic in face view and roughly elliptical in side view; they have dimensions of 8.8–9.9 by 8–8.8 by 5.5–6.6 μm.

Spores appear brownish-yellow when mounted in a solution of potassium hydroxide, and have a thick, smooth wall, a distinct germ pore, and a short appendage.

The basidia (spore-bearing cells) are four-spored, hyaline (translucent), and measure 14–22 by 8–10 μm.

The cheilocystidia (cystidia on the gill face) measure 16–22 by 4–9 μm, and are lageniform (flask-shaped) with flexuous thin necks that are 2.2–3 μm thick, and infrequently have irregular branches.

There are no pleurocystidia (cystidia on the gill face).