Hymenogastraceae
Psilocybe cubensis
Golden teacher · Magic mushroom
- Kingdom
- Fungi — not a plant
- Part used
- whole
- Native range
- Subtropical grassland worldwide, on the dung of large herbivores; probably spread with cattle
- Morphology
- A dung-loving mushroom with a golden-brown convex cap fading to pale, dark purple-brown spores, and a stem that bruises blue where damaged.
What is in it
Evidence
Psilocybin has produced striking results in small trials for treatment-resistant depression and for distress in life-threatening illness, and larger trials are running. Effect sizes shrink as trials grow, and blinding is close to impossible when participants know what they have taken.
Safety
Prolonged psychological difficulty after a bad experience is not rare in survey data. Contraindicated in personal or family history of psychosis or bipolar disorder. Misidentification is the acute hazard: several deadly Galerina and Amanita species grow in similar habitats and have killed people who mistook them.
Interactions: Serotonergic; risk with SSRIs, MAO inhibitors and lithium
Regulatory: Psilocybin is a controlled substance in most jurisdictions. In Australia, authorised psychiatrists have been able to prescribe it for treatment-resistant depression since 2023 under a TGA rescheduling.
Historical use
Psilocybe species have a documented ceremonial history among Mazatec and other Mesoamerican peoples, and are depicted in earlier Mesoamerican material. This particular species is not the one Mazatec practice uses; it became the globally cultivated species because it is easy to grow.
Recorded as history and attributed where possible. Long use establishes that a plant was widely used, not that it worked, and not that it was safe.
Worth knowing
Australia was the first country in the world to reschedule psilocybin for prescription use, in July 2023, allowing authorised psychiatrists to prescribe it for treatment-resistant depression. That decision ran ahead of the evidence base and was criticised on exactly those grounds by researchers who are otherwise sympathetic to the field.
The species point is worth making because it is generally missed. Psilocybe cubensis is the mushroom the global trade and most home cultivation uses, and it is not what Mazatec ceremonial practice uses — that is chiefly P. mexicana and related species. It became dominant because it grows readily on straw and dung, not because of any tradition.
And the identification hazard is not theoretical. Galerina marginata contains the same amatoxins as the death cap, grows in overlapping habitat, and has killed foragers.
Nomenclature verified against GBIF backbone taxonomy.