Updated Psilocybe subaeruginosa factsheet
Due to growing public awareness of psilocybin-containing mushrooms, Australia’s classic autumnal, wood-loving, psychoactive fungus, P. subaeruginosa, is gaining more attention than ever.
Friend of EGA, fungi educator, and psychedelic mushroom expert Caine Barlow has been generous enough to help us develop this unique resource by reviewing the current literature and community knowledge around P. subaeruginosa. Since writing the Psilocybe subaeruginosa factsheet in 2021, our understanding of the Psilocybe genus, especially Section Subaeruginosae, has significantly improved. Research by Alistair McTaggart and colleagues has altered our view of P. subaeruginosa, confirming what many suspected (that P. cyanescens, P. azurescens, and P. allenii are just “subs”), and shown that the species is much more dynamic than many had thought.
After publishing the Psilocybe cubensis factsheet late last year (2024), we at EGA felt it was the right time to update the “subs” factsheet and include the additional information from the “cubensis” factsheet. The release of this update depended on the publication of the paper, “‘Wood-lover paralysis’: Describing a toxidrome with symptoms of weakness caused by some lignicolous “wood-loving” Psilocybe mushrooms”, by Beck, Barlow, Engel, and Barratt, to include information on Wood-lover Paralysis.
The reference guide includes species and habitat descriptions, history, pharmacology, poisonous lookalikes, and other safety and legal issues. Caine has also helped us include a fantastic list of related resources, making it easy for the mycologically minded to get up to speed on the current research and for Australian fungi foragers to choose the guidebook most suited to their needs. The guide is very visual and includes images by EGA community, including Tannar Coolhaas, Beau Meister, Konan Farrelly-Horsfall, and EGA's Jonathan Carmichael.
This is a minor update in lieu of a significant overhaul of the “subs’ factsheet that should be released early 2026.
