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Psilocybe mushroom

Psilocybe cubensis (and related)

Also known as: Psilocybe cubensis, magic mushroom, shrooms

A genus of around 200 species of small saprotrophic fungi in the family Hymenogastraceae — many of which contain psilocybin and psilocin, the principal psychedelic compounds active at human serotonin 5-HT2A receptors. *Psilocybe cubensis* is the most-cultivated and best-known commercial species, but Indigenous ceremonial use across Mesoamerica predates the European encounter by thousands of years. Maria Sabina's mid-20th-century Mazatec velada ceremonies in Oaxaca brought the species into Western awareness; the 2010s–2020s legal-status changes (Oregon legalization 2020; Colorado 2022; FDA breakthrough therapy designation; various decriminalization measures) have begun reintegrating the species into formal Western medical and therapeutic contexts.

Psilocybe mushroom
Photo via Wikimedia Commons — see source for license.

Scientific

Psilocybe (family Hymenogastraceae) contains roughly 200 species globally. About 100 contain psilocybin and psilocin. Principal commercially-and-ceremonially significant species:

  • Psilocybe cubensis — the most-cultivated worldwide; pan-tropical distribution; the standard “magic mushroom” of the 21st century
  • Psilocybe semilanceata — liberty cap; small, wild-only, native to temperate Europe and North America
  • Psilocybe mexicana — the species used in Mazatec ceremonial traditions
  • Psilocybe azurescens — Pacific Northwest of North America; among the most-potent species

The principal active compounds are psilocybin and psilocin. Psilocybin is a prodrug — the body converts it to psilocin, which then binds serotonin 5-HT2A receptors and produces the characteristic psychedelic effects. The pharmacological pathway is closely related to LSD’s and DMT’s; the subjective effects are broadly similar.

Indigenous use

Mesoamerican ceremonial use is documented archaeologically going back at least 4,000 years — the “mushroom stones” of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica (small stone sculptures depicting mushrooms with human or deity figures emerging from them) are among the most-distinctive surviving artifacts of pre-Columbian religious practice.

Spanish colonial authorities suppressed the practice as part of broader campaigns against Indigenous religion. Continued underground use survived in remote regions, particularly among the Mazatec of Oaxaca.

In 1955, R. Gordon Wasson — an American banker and amateur ethnobotanist — participated in a velada (night ceremony) with the Mazatec curandera María Sabina. His 1957 Life magazine article describing the experience brought psilocybin mushrooms into broad Western awareness, with substantial consequences for both the Mazatec community (which experienced significant negative tourism impact) and for the subsequent Western counterculture.

Modern clinical research (Johns Hopkins, Imperial College London, NYU, and others, especially in the 2010s–2020s) has produced strong evidence for psilocybin’s efficacy in treatment-resistant depression, end-of-life anxiety, and various other psychiatric indications. The FDA designated psilocybin as a “breakthrough therapy” for depression in 2018 and 2019; multiple companies are now in late-stage clinical trials for FDA approval.

Legal status changes:

  • Oregon legalized psilocybin therapy (Measure 109, 2020)
  • [[boulder|Colorado]] legalized therapeutic use (Proposition 122, 2022)
  • Decriminalization measures in Denver, Oakland, Santa Cruz, Washington DC, Seattle, and other US cities
  • Australia approved psilocybin and MDMA for therapy (2023)
  • Many other countries are at various stages of policy reconsideration

See also

Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.

  • Shares approach with: [[zucchini]] · [[zinnia]] · [[vanilla]] · [[truffle]] · [[tomato]] · [[shiitake]]
  • Member of: [[fungus]]

Sources

  • Wikipedia — Psilocybe cubensis
  • Pollan, How to Change Your Mind (2018)

A fungus entry in the 0mn1.one [[directory]].

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