Shroom hunting Bruising in Wild Mushrooms

[college]

Ok, I know that there are many many dangerous look alikes out there, but I would have to assume that the mushrooms that will hurt or kill you do not bruise that famous blue color. If the cap turns blue is it safe to assume that it is a psilosybin mushroom? thanks a bunch, and who knows you could save someones life if they read your repsonse and realize, "SHIT! if I ate this I could die" thanks for the help.

[college]

Ok, if someone were to go out and wander around the woods in the northeasternpart of americaand collect every mushroom they saw, Im sure that at least some would be psychedelic. Now my question is this. Will the magic mushrooms be the only ones bruised blue? is blue coloring a dead give away of psilosybin or do all mushrooms stain that color? Any help would be great.

[Phungushead]

Bluing is a good indicator that the mushroom contains psilocybin...
although every once in awhile a psilocybin-containing shroom will not
have this reaction. Also, there are a couple other chemicals (like boletol)
found in non-psilocybin shrooms that can cause bluing, and some deadly
species (Galerina, probably others as well) have a darkening reaction
that could be mistaken for bluing... So it's a good place to start, but it's
not a guarantee... you should really get a guide book or something.

[Phungushead]

There are a ton of mushrooms out there that bruise bluish to greenish (or simply
are bluish to greenish in the first place) and are not active. This incomplete
list is provided to give some idea of the mushrooms out there that fit this
description.

Mushrooms That Bruise Blue to Green

Boletes

Boletes may be recognized by the fact that they have tubes under the
cap instead of gills. Also, the tubes may be peeled from the cap, in contrast
with those of the Polypores. There are many boletes that bruise bluish to
greenish.

Boletus appendiculatus
Boletus badius
Boletus bicolor
Boletus calopus
Boletus campestris
Boletus chrysenteroides
Boletus chrysenteron
Boletus communis
Boletus discolor
Boletus firmus (=Boletus piedmontensis)
Boletus flammans
Boletus fraternus
Boletus frostii
Boletus hortonii
Boletus huronensis
Boletus inedulis
Boletus intermedius
Boletus legaliae
Boletus lignicola
Boletus luridellus
Boletus luridiformis (=Boletus erythropus)
Boletus luridus
Boletus miniato-olivaceus
Boletus miniato-pallescens
Boletus oliveisporus
Boletus pallidus
Boletus pascuus
Boletus pseudo-olivaceus
Boletus pseudosensibilis
Boletus pseudosulphureus
Boletus pulcherrimus
Boletus pulverulentus
Boletus rubellus
Boletus rubroflammeus
Boletus rufocinnamomeus
Boletus satanas
Boletus sensibilis
Boletus spadiceus
Boletus speciosus
Boletus subdepauperatus
Boletus subfraternus
Boletus subglabripes
Boletus subluridellus
Boletus subtomentosus
Boletus subvelutipes
Boletus tenax
Boletus truncatus
Boletus vermiculosoides
Boletus vermiculosus
Fuscoboletus viscidus (=Fuscoboletus aeruginascens)
Gyrodon merulioides (=Boletinellus merulioides)
Gyroporus cyanescens
Suillus aeruginascens
Suillus proximus
Suillus tomentosus
Suillus variegatus
Tylopilus pseudoscaber
Tylopilus sordidus

Non-Boletes

These are cap-and-gills mushrooms (with the exception of the Postia, which
is a Polypore).

Entoloma incanum
Lactraius barrowsii
Lactarius blennius
Lactarius deliciosus
Lactarius deterrimus
Lactarius indigo
Lactarius paradoxus
Lactarius necator
Lactarius rubrilacteus
Lactarius salmoneus
Lactarius sanguifluus
Lactarius subpurpureus
Lactarius thyinos
Lactarius trivialis
Phylloporus boletinoides
Phylloporus rhodoxanthus
Postia caesia

Blueish to Greenish Mushrooms

These mushrooms are bluish to greenish to begin
with. In some cases the bluish to greenish tones may be subtle, and in some
species not all specimens exhibit a bluish or greenish color.

Chlorociboria aeruginascens
Chlorophyllum molybdites
Clitocybe odora
Cortinarius alboviolaceus
Cortinarius violaceus
Entoloma nitidum
Entoloma serrulatum
Hygrocybe psittacina
Hypholoma fasciculare
Inocybe haemacta
Lepista nuda
Pleurotus ostreatus
Russula virescens
Sarcodon scabrosus
Stropharia aeruginosa
Stropharia cyanea
Tricholoma saponaceum

[college]

So what your saying is that there is no safe way to simply assume?

[Phungushead]

Safest thing to do would be to check out something like the
Mushroom Hunting Basics thread (sticky on this forum)
to see which species you'll most likely
run across and carefully note what they look like... most of the bruising
shrooms above actually look nothing like psilocybes (for example, most
boletes are short, fat, and huge; postia caesia is a 'shelf shroom'), so
then you'll know exactly what you're looking for. If physical ID matches
up, and it bruises (spore printing is also a good thing to do when ID'ing
shrooms), then I'd say you'd be pretty safe. Finally, start out really
small when eating wild shrooms, just to be sure.

[neoken]

From my experience, the best way to pick shrooms is to make sure there
is some kind of cow dung around, the common stuff around here is a tan
top with a copper/brownish top on it. There will more then likely be
other shrooms around it with weird bent stems. if the shroom is more
like a black and goldish color dont take it. pick it and squeze the
juice from the stem and if its a vivid blue or violet then you got it.
just remember if u have any doubts, dont pick it. and beware stray cow
heards.

[Phungushead]

Not only in cow fields...

P. semilanceata (liberty caps) and p. cyanescens are both very common
around here... best place to find semilanceata seems to be areas with
tall grass (will grow in cow fields, but they also pop up in fertilized yards)
while cyanescens can be found on piles of decaying wood
chips and stuff like that...

Like said above though, where you want to look really depends on where
you live... in some locations (such as the Gulf area), a cow field
would be your best bet... while in other places, you'll have good luck
in the woods.

[Softrat]

There is no shortcut to proper mushrooms IDing. I did not start hunting psilocybes untill I had be hunting regular edibles for many years.


There are mushrooms that blue that are toxic and not psychedellic.


Also blackening reactions and general darkening from handling can be mistaken as a bluing reaction by newbies.


Galerina autumnalis looks alot like many psilocybies, particularly psilocybie cyanscens, and it is deadly poisen. This mushroom often darkens from the base of the stipe up. This can happen from handling or can happen while the mushroom is in the ground.


I can tell the differnece between Galerina autumnalis and Psilocybe cyanescnes, but there have still ben many times when seing Galerina autumnalis from a distance I approach it thinking it is cyanescens. It is only when I stoop down to examine it I see that it is in fact a Galerina. Galarinas and psylocybies also grow in the same habitats and can sometimes be found growing right next to one another or even inter-twined.


Mushroom IDing involves looking at a whole range of features of the mushroom and the habitate you find it in. It is not something you learn in a week. You can not ID a mushroom by looking at just one feature.


Edited by: Softrat

[Phungushead]

Yes, people have died by mistakenly eating galerina when they thought
they had cyanescens...

Another thing to look out for is shrooms that are decaying/rotting/bug
infested, or whatever... I've heard of people eating rotten
mushrooms... needless to say, they did not have a good time.

Here is galerina autumnalis (both photos: Evergreen State College):


Here is cyanescens:


Like mentioned a few posts back, spore printing is one sure-fire way to
differentiate the two if you're new to hunting...
-Galerina autumnalis' spores are a dark orange (rust) color...
-Psilocybe cyanescens' spores are dark purplish-brown...

[Ninja Master]

yep i was about to say watch for if they have pores or gills. to
say what a mushroom is, is hard with out a microscope and spore
print. swim tells me you need 1000x magnaficaiton for
spores.