Liberty Cap Mushrooms: Look-Alikes, Identification & More

Another key way in identifying liberty caps, is by the gelatinous pellicle (the sticky film on wet liberty caps). This is really handy because often, lookalikes can have much of the liberty caps features without this one. One of the most prominent features of the liberty cap is the nipple on top of the cap, and almost all liberty caps will have a nipple-like point on the top of the cap.

Psilocybe Cubensis

Scottish mycologist Roy Watling described sequestrate (truffle-like) or secotioid versions of P. semilanceata he found growing in association with regular fruit bodies. The anamorphic form of P. semilanceata is an asexual stage in the fungus’s life cycle involved in the development of mitotic diaspores (conidia). Immediately under the cap cuticle is the subpellis, made of hyphae that are 4–12 μm wide with yellowish-brown encrusted walls.

Possible Poisonous Liberty Cap Look-Alikes

P. semilanceata is much less common in South America, where it has been recorded in Chile. Guzmán later examined Peck’s herbarium specimen, and in his comprehensive 1983 monograph on Psilocybe, concluded that Peck had misidentified it with the species now known as Panaeolina foenisecii. It is generally agreed that the species is native to Europe; Watling has demonstrated that there exists little difference between specimens collected from Spain and Scotland, at both the morphological and genetic level.

Cap Colour

As they mature, the color fades from a rich taupe to a grayish brown. They have long lines that radiate down the moist caps. The bell-shaped, conical caps are barely an inch in diameter.

Spores of Psilocybe semilanceata

It can be identified by its reddish-brown cap over a pale yellow or white stem. The tops of rotting logs, mounds of peat or mulch, this dark-brown capped mushroom also goes by the names of blue bell and bottle cap. The psilocybe semilanceata is much stronger than its cousin psilocybe pelliculosa.

It is both one of the most widely distributed psilocybin mushrooms in nature, and one of the most potent. The liberty cap stem is usually between 2 and 4 inches in height and 0.04 to 0.14 inches in diameter. The gills of the liberty cap are narrow, densely formed, and an olive gray hue. Liberty cap mushrooms grow in the fall and spring in grassy areas like lawns, meadows, and fields. However, the mushrooms do not grow directly on the dung as Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms do.

• Magic mushrooms are classed as Class A drugs in the UK, meaning the most severe punishment for possession is up to seven years and an unlimited fine.
• The flesh of Liberty Cap mushrooms contains the psychoactive compounds of psilocybin.
• You should instead consider all available evidence when identifying liberty caps.
• When grown in dual culture with other saprobic fungi isolated from the rhizosphere of grasses from its habitat, P. semilanceata significantly suppresses their growth.
• The pointy-capped plant has its benefits and its risks.
• Three healing centers now offer supervised psychedelic mushroom sessions in the Boulder and mark a milestone in CO’s natural medicine

Psychoactive alkaloid content

The average size of the magic mushroom species is tiny. It can be hard to distinguish a nonpsilocybin mushroom from a magic mushroom that will alter your state of mind. If you are not sure what a psychedelic-inducing mushroom looks like, then you probably shouldn’t traipse through the woods randomly picking mushrooms. To know if you are picking magic mushrooms when foraging for the spongy edibles, there are a few distinct things to look for. There are many different types of magic mushrooms aside from the Liberty Cap. The tiny-capped mushrooms prefer wet areas that are undisturbed by foot traffic or grazing by farm animals.

The flesh of Liberty Cap mushrooms contains the psychoactive compounds of psilocybin. The Liberty Cap mushroom, also known as a magic mushroom for its psychedelic effects, has long been used as a hallucinogenic in many cultures around the world for thousands of years. The dainty, ribbed and pointed cap on slender stems belie a potentially poisonous little edible growing in grasslands around the world. The gills turn from grey to purplish-brown with age as spores are released. When a mushroom is injured, it releases enzymes that cause the cap and stem to turn blue and bruise purple. These wild mushrooms have captured the imagination of those seeking altered states of consciousness for centuries.

Wildcrafting is a sustainable practice that involves the ethical and responsible gathering of wild plants and fungi for various purposes, such as medicinal or culinary use. And with more funding allocated for psilocybin research, we can expect to see exciting new discoveries soon. However, some of those rules and regulations are evolving as some countries are legalizing psilocybin for mental health treatment. And to get a sense of what may be legal (or not) in your area, it’s essential to understand what these fungi are. The genus ‌Conocybe also has a similar cap and contains toxic compounds.

Explore Psychedelic Therapy Regions

• It is our understanding that it is illegal to possess or to sell psilocybin in the UK.
• To know if you are picking magic mushrooms when foraging for the spongy edibles, there are a few distinct things to look for.
• In contrast to P. semilanceata, the edge of the gills beneath the cap lie flat along the bottom, perpendicular to the stem.
• Panaeolus semiovatus, the egghead mottlegill, tends to be much larger (with a cap diameter of up to 6cm and a height of 15cm), does not have a pointed cap, and it bruises yellowish rather than bluish.
• Another lookalike species is P. samuiensis, found in Thailand, where it grows in well-manured clay-like soils or among paddy fields.

Although there are certain caveats with this technique—such as the erroneous assumption that these compounds contribute equally to psychoactive properties—it serves as a rough comparison of potency between species. Michael Beug and Jeremy Bigwood, analyzing specimens from the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, reported psilocybin concentrations ranging from 0.62% to 1.28%, averaging 1.0 ±0.2%. A Finnish study assayed psilocybin concentrations in old herbarium specimens, and concluded that although psilocybin concentration decreased linearly over time, it was relatively stable. Several studies have quantified the amounts of hallucinogenic compounds found in the fruit bodies of Psilocybe semilanceata. Using the technique of paper chromatography, Hofmann confirmed the presence of 0.25% (by weight) psilocybin in dried samples. The identification of the species responsible was made possible by James Sowerby’s 1803 book Coloured Figures of English Fungi or Mushrooms, which included a description of the fungus, then known as Agaricus glutinosus (originally described by Moses Ashley Curtis in 1780).

A spore print is a handy way of capturing the spores from a mushroom, akin to gathering seeds from plants in your garden. While more studies are needed to fully understand how psychedelic mushrooms affect people, the research conducted so far is promising. Mordecai Cooke’s 1871 handbook referred to this mushroom as the «cap of liberty,» which can be tied to the cap worn by freed Roman enslaved people. In fact, psilocybe mushrooms were used as a holy sacrament and called Teonanácatl in the Aztec language. Canada, Australia, Japan, Germany, France, Mexico, and New Zealand all have laws prohibiting psilocybe mushrooms. And Missouri and Oklahoma are greenlighting bills promoting further research on psychedelic mushrooms.

Psychoactive use

This film becomes apparent if a piece of the cap is broken by bending it back and peeling away the piece. The cap margin is initially rolled inward but unrolls to become straight or even curled upwards in maturity. The Latin word for Phrygian cap is pileus, nowadays the technical name for what is commonly known as the «cap» of a fungal fruit body. The proposal to conserve the name Psilocybe, with P. semilanceata as the type was accepted unanimously by the Nomenclature Committee for Fungi in 2009. Further, the name P. semilanceata had historically been accepted as the lectotype by many authors in the period 1938–68. To resolve this dilemma, several mycologists proposed in a 2005 publication to conserve the name Psilocybe, with P. semilanceata as the type.

Psilocybe semilanceata

It can be mistaken for P. semilanceata but can be distinguished from the latter by its lack of distinctive nipple-like papilla on its cap, with its cap being convex in profile or possessing just a slight umbo (or raised area in the center of the cap). The stems of Panaeolus also tend to be much more brittle and more prone to breaking when bending than is the case with P. semilanceata. Other tree species it is reported growing in association with include beeches, chestnuts, horse-chestnuts, birches, filberts, hornbeams, pines, and spruces. The closely related destroying angel (referring to the species Amanita virosa in Europe, and A. bisporigera and A. ocreata in eastern and western North America) have very similar features to the death cap, also forming mycorrhizal associations with a variety of deciduous and coniferous trees. Liberty caps favor acidic soils that are rich in organic matter and not heavily compacted. The gills slope upwards and only attach to the stem right at the top of the stem (the attachment is adnexed); this should be obvious when cutting a cross section.

Ultimately, creating the ideal environment to grow liberty cap mushrooms is a challenging task, so foraging for them in grassy patches of land is much easier. Growing liberty cap mushrooms is incredibly difficult because they require decaying grass liberty caps gills roots in order to grow. It’s important to remember that when it comes to harvesting wild mushrooms, including liberty cap mushrooms, ethical considerations should always be kept in mind. It’s important to note that more studies are needed to fully understand how hallucinogenic mushrooms like liberty cap mushrooms affect mental health before we draw more definitive conclusions (3). And while it’s likely liberty cap mushrooms were used in sacred ceremonies, our information isn’t always well documented.

A polymerase chain reaction-based test to specifically identify P. semilanceata was reported by Polish scientists in 2007. In one noted case, an otherwise healthy young Austrian man mistook the poisonous Cortinarius rubellus for P. semilanceata. In one case reported in Poland in 1998, an 18-year-old man developed Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, arrhythmia, and suffered myocardial infarction after ingesting P. semilanceata frequently over the period of a month. Common side effects of mushroom ingestion include pupil dilation, increased heart rate, unpleasant mood, and overresponsive reflexes. Typical symptoms include visual distortions of color, depth and form, progressing to visual hallucinations. Several reports have been published in the literature documenting the effects of consumption of P. semilanceata.