Do all magic mushrooms bruise blue?

[TheWizardOfSD]

I have found some mushrooms, not planning on eating them, but still wondering whats up with them, the caps bruise really blue, but the stalks are hollow and dont bruise at all. Just wondering if all "good" mushrooms bruise blue?

[-=ReD-hAzE=-]

Yes.

But there are also non-magical vision inducing mushrooms that bruise blue and could possibly be poisonous.
__________________

Do not injest mushrooms you've found unless you have them ID'd by someone that actually knows what they are doing.

One more time, Do Not Eat.

[BilZ0r]

Indeed, not all blue bruising mushrooms and magic, and not all magic mushrooms are blue brusing.

[fizzacyst]

^^ I'm pretty sure all psilocybin-containing mushrooms bruise blue to some degree, and thats probably what he was talking about. Yes, there are some other psychoactive mushrooms that don't turn blue (amanitas, puffballs, etc), but relatively few people have any interest in eating those.

[soul]

no

an example of this would be gympolius spectabalis aka (big laughing gym) and the mushroom contains pcilocybin

it bruises orange to dark orange and is very much active.

[fizzacyst]

Do you have a reference for that?

If that is the case, its probably because there is such a small amount of active chemical in it, distributed throughout a large mushroom. You have to eat a fairly large amount of them to get any effect, and I definately wouldn't consider them 'very much active'. They also taste terrible. I wouldn't consider them worthy of being eaten. They are, however, pretty cool looking.

Edit: Not trying to be an ass.... there is just lots of mushroom misinformation.

[BilZ0r]

Well they're not the most potent species in the world, but you can trip off around 5g.

[mthree984]

You gotta eat a lot of big laughing gyms to trip and they are very bitter mushrooms.

Some boletes bruise blue and they are deadly. Boletes are ID'd easily because they have pores instead of gills (underneath the cap).

Some Cubensis mushrooms do not bruise blue and are active. However most active mushrooms will show heavy signs of blueish bruising.

[soul]

Originally posted by fizzacyst
Do you have a reference for that?

If that is the case, its probably because there is such a small amount of active chemical in it, distributed throughout a large mushroom. You have to eat a fairly large amount of them to get any effect, and I definately wouldn't consider them 'very much active'. They also taste terrible. I wouldn't consider them worthy of being eaten. They are, however, pretty cool looking.

Edit: Not trying to be an ass.... there is just lots of mushroom misinformation.

http://leda.lycaeum.org/?ID=108

is one source. and i'm pretty sure that the shroomery has more info
on the species, just do a search on it.

long ago, i found and consumed the species and it was quite active. (i ate about 5 grams fresh of the material and felt a psychedelic nudge which led to uncontrollable laughter hence the name "big laughing gyms" also dialated pupils were noted.)

on a diffent account, a friend of mine consumed a gym that i found growing on the trunk of a pine tree. he also experienced the same psychedelic nudge without but the laughter on one 3 gram (fresh) immature specimen. (dialated pupils were also noted)

that was years ago, if i would have know better, i definitely would have kept the rest of the gyms, dried them, and extended my research of them. In total I found and gave away over a pound of fresh gyms which were thrown out by another friend, who let it rot in some container because he was afraid to consume it. in truth i felt the same fear about them at that time
being such a newbie and all (what ignorance) and it was the
reason why i gave it away.

on a tangent, if my memory serves me right, i recall gyms in the west are not as active as the gyms in the east. i might be as so bold to even say that the gyms in the west might not be active at all but please correct me on that one if i'm wrong

[fizzacyst]

By reference i meant journal material, or at the least something not posted by a random unverifiable net user.

I don't know the percentage of water by weight of these mushrooms, but 3-5grams fresh doesn't really sound like enough to say it wasn't placebo.

[BilZ0r]

You'll be lucky to find many mushroom articles published, let alone any on rather unusual mushroom like gymnopilus.

But then again:

Lloydia 41(2):140-4. ( 1978 ) The occurrence of psilocybin in Gymnopilus species. Hatfield GM, Valdes LJ. An accidental case of mushroom poisoning led to the detection of psilocybin in Gymnopilus validipes (Cortinariaceae). This compound was subsequently isolated (0.12% yield) by anion exchange and cellulose chromatography. Eighteen additional species of Gymnopilus were screened by a method capable of detecting 0.0004% psilocybin in dried carpophores. Psilocybin was detected in G. aeruginosus, G. luteus, G. viridans and G. spectabilis. The latter species has been previously reported to be hallucinogenic. This is the first report of psilocybin from this genus.

So 5grams, at 0.12% = 6mg, right smack in the middle of human oral recreational doses!

Damn I'm a fucking source of knowledge

[soul]

Originally posted by fizzacyst
By reference i meant journal material, or at the least something not posted by a random unverifiable net user.


I don't know the percentage of water by weight of these mushrooms, but 3-5grams fresh doesn't really sound like enough to say it wasn't placebo.

wow, hostile arent we? i'm pretty sure if you do find the info you seek about the gyms, it would lead to the same answer. gyms contain most likely pcilocybin.

youre right about the weight. i must have been more perhaps double. these mushrooms were very large in comparison to cubensis. in either sense, the effects were definitely not placebo =]

the best thing for you do is to go out and find them yourself and experience them as i have.

[soul]

Originally posted by BilZ0r


So 5grams, at 0.12% = 6mg, right smack in the middle of human oral recreational doses!

i wish i was more methodical at that time when dealing with gyms, trying to recall the weight (by estimation) of an experiment with gyms i took about a decade ago is really boggling my mind.

=/

[john mason]

When you harvest fresh psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, if you squeeze them while they are still wet, they will bruise blue. SO, if they are blue it is a good sign they are real, as long as they smell like regular cubes etc. But if they arent blue, it doesnt at all mean they are fake.

Ive eaten enough shrooms to know one way or another, it's really not hard. The smell always gives it away.

[soul]

hmm let me trace my steps...this should be fun

ok, i was in a park with decidious woods (maple, birch, oak) looking for shrooms with my field guide to north american mushrooms in one hand.

after spending most of the afternoon identifying other species like, amanitas (yellow), mica caps, coprinus (from the same park on a horse trail)
and what the hell was that.. that other huge mushroom.. i think it has to be portabella cause they were huge, with purple brown spores. ( yes, i took a sporeprint)

after hours of walking around in the heat, i couldn't believe my eyes. there it was a dirty orange mushroom patch with huge 4-5 inch caps. there were bugs in the gills.. yet still, i put them in a paper bag and took them home.

after cleaning out the bugs from the cap, i took a spore print. i remember it being a rust colored orange. I then cut and squeezed the stem and the whole stem started brusing ad dark moist orange/ red color.

i took a whif at the specimen and it did smell line anise as the field guide noted. after reassuring myself that what i had was the real deal. i then took one cap and broke into chunks.

damn why can't i remember the exact amount i ate from there on..?

[soul]

Originally posted by john mason
When you harvest fresh psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, if you squeeze them while they are still wet, they will bruise blue. SO, if they are blue it is a good sign they are real, as long as they smell like regular cubes etc. But if they arent blue, it doesnt at all mean they are fake.

Ive eaten enough shrooms to know one way or another, it's really not hard. The smell always gives it away.

a farnaceous smell

[soul]

oops double post

[fizzacyst]

That was for Gymnopilus validipes, not G. Spectabilis. The I can find no information about drug content on it. Just because they are in the same genus means nothing about alkaloid contect between species. That says abolsutely nothing about the content of G. spectabilis.

A report by John Allen, who is reputable in such matters says that it takes 'large quanitites' to get a desired effect. What is large? Thats subjective. But considering that a fairly normal p. cubensis dosage, the most commonly eaten, is 2-4g, and not considered a large amount, I doubt 5g is what he meant by 'large quanities'.

Im not trying to be hostile at all. Im just getting sick of people who don't really have the information straight posting their thoughts as if it were fact, especially about mushrooms. I don't have all the information either, nor do I pretend to.

[BilZ0r]

lol, I can't believe I missed that. Still, Does anyboyd have access to that journal?

[DeathByDefault]

I donno if its relevent but around here people have to eat about 70 mushrooms just for a mild buzz, and 400 shrooms for some mind blowing visuals.. extremely low potency and i've yet to find any that bruise blue/black ..in fact i was laughed at just for thinking that psilocybes were supposed to bruise! The only documented species here is psilocybe semilanceata..

[Real_Illusion]

Originally posted by DeathByDefault
I donno if its relevent but around here people have to eat about 70 mushrooms just for a mild buzz, and 400 shrooms for some mind blowing visuals.. extremely low potency and i've yet to find any that bruise blue/black ..in fact i was laughed at just for thinking that psilocybes were supposed to bruise! The only documented species here is psilocybe semilanceata..

Then I'm guessing you have fresh mushrooms. Fresh mushrooms are 1/10 as potent as dry mushrooms. If you ever do leave them out to dry.....dont eat as much as you normally do. Or else youll be in for quite a surprise :-P

[Sledge]

Originally posted by DeathByDefault
I donno if its relevent but around here people have to eat about 70 mushrooms just for a mild buzz, and 400 shrooms for some mind blowing visuals.. extremely low potency and i've yet to find any that bruise blue/black ..in fact i was laughed at just for thinking that psilocybes were supposed to bruise! The only documented species here is psilocybe semilanceata..

And I don't know what kind of semilanceata you've had. You trip
hard on 50 liberty caps.

[the armed forces]

Oxidation does happen, but it is not noticable in all cases (bruising blue). A prime example of this would be Panaeolus subbalteatus, those who have picked this mushroom will tell you that most of the time this mushroom does not bruise blue.

[bachus]

This is a nicely written anecdote googled from Usenet:

"Entries from my diary

12:32 PM. - While walking in the woods looking for Grifola frondosa, I
come across a curious orange
mushroom growing from the base of a fallen tree. This particular
specimen is a cespitose cluster of light
orange mushrooms. There are about seven or eight mushrooms in the
cluster, with caps varying from an inch
to five inches in diameter. As I kneel to sever the stalks from their
base, my faithful mastiff Cato slobbers
impatiently. At first blush the fungi appear to be either
Jack-o-Lanterns or Honey mushrooms. I nevertheless
throw them into my collection sack for further examination.

2:05 PM - Back in my laboratory, I examine the orange mushrooms more
closely. The cap is narrowly gilled
and the attached gills extend partly down the stipe. There are
evanescent rings, and the stipes are shallowly
striate and thick. I take a spore print to determine whether they are
indeed a somewhat dwarfish version of
Omphalotus illudens. To my surprise, the spore print comes out rusty
orange. I can therefore immediately
eliminate both Armillaria mellea and Omphalotus illudens as potential
candidates since they both have white
spore prints. Reference to my Audubon Society field guide leads me
unerringly to the "Big Laughing Gym",
Gymnopilus spectabilis. All other potential candidates have been
eliminated from consideration.

3:32 PM - I call for a spot of tea and stoke my trusty Meerschaum.

I determine to consult the various authorities on the edibility vel non
of my little find. Most commentators
characterize this mushroom ominously as "toxic" or "poisonous".
Somewhat more lightheartedly, Aurora
relates the apocryphal tale of the elderly woman who accidentally
consumed G. spectabilis. She laughed
and cried uncontrollably. When the authorities came to carry her away
to the hospital, she remarked, "If this is
the way you die from mushroom poisoning, I'm all for it!" I chuckle and
puff on my pipe thoughtfully. Friends
have occasionally intimated that I am singularly lacking in humor.

5:30 PM - The sun has already set. On an ordinary Saturday night, I
would put on a stack of Haydn LPs, pour
myself a sherry and tackle a particularly challenging chess problem.
Tonight, though, I find myself looking
over at the G. spectabilis with an intense curiosity. Prudence indeed
would dictate that I should shun a
fungus so little understood, but I find myself thinking that research
on this mushroom clearly needs to be
done. Science must be served. If the mushroom be toxic, who better to
suffer the ghastly effects than a
confirmed old bachelor like myself? No one would miss me, I muse,
without bitterness. I give Cato an
affectionate stroke behind the ears. "Except you, old boy. Except you."
Cato bites me.

6:10 PM - I am resolved. I will do this thing! Gymnopilus is known to
be very bitter. I slice four carefully
measured ounces of the specimens into a sauce pan and add garlic and
olive oil. I begin to sauté over a low
heat. "Low heat", I faithfully record in my notebook. This is, after
all, science. After sautéing for a few minutes,
I gingerly take a bite of one of the caps. Still bitter. I add a splash
of Madeira to the pan. I do not record the
Madeira in my notebook. "Hardly seems pertinent to the experiment," I
comment to Cato, who seems to
slobber in agreement.

6:25 PM - I spoon the substance onto a plate, place my napkin on my
lap, and purse my lips. I hesitate for a
moment, then cut the largest mushroom into bite-size pieces. I remind
myself that I am doing this for science,
take a quick bite, chew once and then swallow without tasting. I once
made the mistake of going to a sushi
bar, and this same technique served me well. In a few minutes I am
done. I pat my mouth with my napkin,
pour myself a claret, and retire to the study.

6:45 PM - Nothing out of the ordinary has occurred.

6:50 PM - Still nothing. Could I have misidentified the species?

7:03 PM - I am beginning to feel quite peculiar. My mind seems to have
become unshackled. A pleasant - or
is it unpleasant? -sensation seems to be traveling up and down my
spine. There is a sense of inebriation, yet
I have only had one glass of claret. I feel as though I am floating. I
record my sensations in my notebook and
notice that my penmanship has deteriorated markedly since my last
entry.

I am not normally a talkative man, but I find myself wanting to work
the muscles of my lips and tongue. I call
my brother, whom I have not spoken to in years, and engage him in a
long and cordial chat. He is wary at
first, but seems to respond to my uncharacteristic warmth. I bid him
adieu and find myself inviting him and his
wife, whom I despise, to visit. The phone rings. It is a gentleman
seeking donations for my alma mater. We
come to an immediate rapport based on the fact that he apparently once
lived in the dormitory next to my old
dormitory. I realize that it has been some years since I have properly
recognized that fine institution. I agree
to donate a thousand dollars to the scholarship fund. The gentleman
rings off quickly before we have
exhausted the subject of old Bentley Hall. I find myself casting about
for other people to call.

8:00 PM - I decide to experiment with television viewing. Tingling
slightly, I turn on a rerun of the Dick van
Dyke Show. I had always enjoyed the program in my youth, but never
before had I appreciated the sheer
genius of its comic enterprise. I find each gag side-splittingly funny;
I am literally gasping for air and crying at
the virtuoso wit. Morey Amsterdam! How had I missed his perfect gift
for timing? Mary Tyler Moore? A pure
artist! Thankfully, the show ends before my gut ruptures.

I begin to think of a joke I once heard George Gobel tell. A clerk is
asking him how he spells his name. "Is
that Gobel with a "G"?" "That's right," says Gobel, "we used to spell
it with an "F", but people kept calling us
Fobel."

For some reason I cannot get this old joke out of my head, and so
hilarious does it seem every time I tell it to
myself that I cannot control the tears of laughter pouring down my
cheeks. Cato is looking at me as though I
am quite mad.

10:15 PM - I take Cato out for a walk. It feels good to breathe the
cool air and look at the moon. I have an
interesting insight into a relationship that I once had. I see clearly
now that my old flame was intimidated by
my superior intelligence. That had caused her to dump me. At the time,
it had appeared to be her secret
infatuation with the man who is now her husband. I decide to write a
letter to her explaining exactly what
went wrong with our relationship. I feel certain that once the reality
is pointed out to her, she will come
running back.

12:00 midnight - I have no appetite whatsoever. The mushroom seems to
have removed any desire for food
or, for that matter, any other sensual pleasures. There have been no
"psychedelic" symptoms. No colors
pulsating, no shapes changing, nothing like that. The effect is
entirely cerebral. It might have been nice to do
this with another member of the mycological association, I think, since
there is so much to think and talk
about. I find the roster of MAW phone numbers and begin calling people;
most of them seem strangely
groggy, irritated, and uninterested in chatting. Could there be a bug
going around?

3:00 AM - I cannot sleep. My mind is still racing madly. I believe I
conceived of the basis for a new religion a
few minutes ago, but now I seem to have forgotten it.

4:00 AM - Sleep at last.

10:00 AM - I awake refreshed. I know what I must do. I must develop a
decent recipe for Gymnopilus
spectabilis. "

[soul]

Originally posted by fizzacyst
[B]By reference i meant journal material, or at the least something not posted by a random unverifiable net user.

Your argument seems valid at this point. I tried finding a valid entry about G. Spectabilis but came up short even after I tried PMing MJshroomer and GGreatone at the shroomery for that info. (so far no, replies)

This has opened the doors of new interest for me concerning G.Spectabilis. I still stand firmly behind the effects this mushrooms has brought to me and my friend so placebo is definitely out of the question.

so what is the mystery component within G.Spectabilis?

other possible species that are active but does not bruise blue.

panaeolus foenisecii
Psilocybe Coprophila