Todays Magic Shrooms in Downtown Seattle

[mjshroomer]

Check these guys out.

Well I as out and about in Downtown Seattle today, two and a half blocks from my condo and I looked into this flower bed box of concrete (not the Freeway Park) and saw these Panaeolus subbalteatus growing in several boxes of mulch, sphagnum moss and top soil.

Here are a few images. there were also some Conocybe cyanopus in the moss but I have been having electronic problems and they were in a shaded area and the flash worked and didn't work and the green light blinked on the camera so I was o unable to get clear photos of them. The images came out blurred. One reason is they are very small shrooms with thin stems and the background will focus and the shroom stalk and cap won't and vice-versa.

So here are five images of the Panaeolus subbalteatus. There were more and in one image you can see three or four baby shrooms behind the bigger one.

These guys take at least a fresh ounce or from three to five dried grams. I did not pick any since there was not enough for research.

mjshroomer

[5thHorsemen]

Nice find. I love Seattle

[the_chosen_one]

cool! it's a rare find in the fall around here, but it does happen. i was really expecting some early cyans or stunzii

[bluefungis182]

nice find

[Jake420]

All you coastlanders suck! J/K I am SO jealous!! That isn't fair! Looking through field and forest, and all you had to do was glance in the flower pot down the street. It has become a sort of obsession of mine to find any of the rare wild psilocybin mushrooms growing here in the midwest. Might as well move to Oregon, for the mushrooms if nothing else... That and it is where my best friend moved.

[darknezz7]

im near oregon coast, heh, 45 mins from astorians

[mjshroomer]

Right now P. stuntzii, P. fimetaria and P. sierrae, all blue ringers can be found in lawns in suburban areas in man-made environments.

And P. Baeocystis also and P. cyanofibrilosas. Another two weeks and Cyanescens should be popping up in droves.

Last year, people had ripped up mycelium form so many city patches there might not be many in Seattle this year. Also he lack of clear cuts means the lack of alder mulch (branches and bark and sawdusts used in gardens in the city are disappearing t due to logging laws making most clear cuts illegal.

mjshroomer

These Pan subbs were in a garden bed box, not a flower pot. One time int he late 1970s, most gardens in Downtown Seattle had lawns of blue ringers and P. cyanescens int he mulch beds around most office building sin the downtown region and from 1977 to 1880, the five and a half acre Freeway Park was wall to wall with five species in it. I once took Andrew Weil shrooming there and at Southcenter Shopping mall. All of their lawns and the boeing buildings had blue ringers. Eventually they disappeared when lawn service form the Evergreen lawn Com stopped fertilizing the lawns there and all of the pasture lands being redeveloped into one-story non polluting Warehouses and stores like Coscos, Home Depot, Target, Fries, etc., have taken over where beautiful fertile soil use to come from which had the spores in them. Now the pastures are disappearing also.

The same with Carnation in Woodinville. Their product called 'Fertile Soil' once provided about 70% of all new lawns in Seattle with blue ringers

In their natural habitat P. stuntzii grows in pastures. But rarely. when it gets put into a man made environment or into the sod with fertilizers or soils, they grow abundantly, wall to wall on lawns. Here is one of 12 lawns around a building near the U district with massive fruiting so blue ringers.

mjshroomer

[hyphaenation]

Thank you for taking the time...



Sounds like volunteers are needed to chip and disperse hardwood chips in the PNW.

cheers

H

[eatyualive]

thats awesome mj!

[Jake420]

When I said flower pot, it was more of a generalization. That sucks that the mycelium beds were ripped to hell (if you will excuse the term) and back. No respect for nature, all in the name of recreation. Now the mushroom ecosystem either recuperates or recedes, which is sad in either case.

[the_chosen_one]

Originally Posted by mjshroomer

One time int he late 1970s, most gardens in Downtown Seattle had lawns of blue ringers and P. cyanescens int he mulch beds around most office building sin the downtown region and from 1977 to 1880, the five and a half acre Freeway Park was wall to wall with five species in it. I once took Andrew Weil shrooming there and at Southcenter Shopping mall. All of their lawns and the boeing buildings had blue ringers. Eventually they disappeared when lawn service form the Evergreen lawn Com stopped fertilizing the lawns there and all of the pasture lands being redeveloped into one-story non polluting Warehouses and stores like Coscos, Home Depot, Target, Fries, etc., have taken over where beautiful fertile soil use to come from which had the spores in them. Now the pastures are disappearing also.

The same with Carnation in Woodinville. Their product called 'Fertile Soil' once provided about 70% of all new lawns in Seattle with blue ringers

In their natural habitat P. stuntzii grows in pastures. But rarely. when it gets put into a man made environment or into the sod with fertilizers or soils, they grow abundantly, wall to wall on lawns. Here is one of 12 lawns around a building near the U district with massive fruiting so blue ringers.

mjshroomer

yes, it's sad seeing the growth along the I-5 corridor of Puget Sound. (born and raised here so i've watched it for some time) i remember the Kent Valley was one of the best places in the world to find a variety of psilly's. most of the pastures have now been replaced by condos or apartments, which is'nt so bad for stunzii and cyans, but takes it's toll on liberty caps and cyanofib's.

it's true tho! my how time flies! they're gonna be here real soon and i'm sure, as MJ says, some already are. i dread going into the more populated areas anymore as i am a bit of a forrest hermit hehe... but some trips towards the ocean will have to be made soon!

great thread MJ. thanks for posting this!

[the_chosen_one]

MJ, do you remember the azure project in the 90's?

Rich Gee had given me and several others prints to attempt naturalization in the Puget Sound region. lol, it was either Rich or PF... the old clock don't run like it used to. pretty sure it was Rich tho.

i had great success in the Key Peninsula area and also at Dosewallips State Park.

[Godflesh]

Nice find MJ! I have to say, you have been an inspiration to me since getting into mycology! Thanks for all your hard (but fun) work!

Do you know of any active species growing in the mid west (southern Michigan / northern Indiana) this time of year? Thanks!
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[mjshroomer]

Well P. caerulipes is in Michigan but is a spring and fall shroom until it gets 50 or below. I am just waiting on a herbarium collection of P. caerulipes form the U of Michigan to arrive in bangkok and int he spring I will compare it with the P. ovoideocystidiata found in West Virgina, Pennsylvania and Ohio. IT also resembles P. caerulipes and even P. cyanescens.

But grows in a warmer climate.

But It could be in Michigan. I am sure also of Gymnopilus in Michigan but i generally teach people to avoid any white gilled mushrooms or any orange to cinnamon colored gills, because the deadly species have those colors. Stick to purple brown to chocolate brown and you will be safe and to the black spores and gills of Copelandia and Panaeolus species.


Here is the URL to the description of Panaeolus subbalteatus and the images posted in my gallery for this species. This thread inspired me to go add the first of the sixty species but i need to work on the four pages of this species with some updates and some photo corrections

panaeolussubbalteatus1

mjshroomer

[CureCat]

VERY nice images of the subbs John!
And especially unusual for this weather.... you should definitely check back there in spring or summer- i bet they will be prolific!

Here is a hint for focusing the camera on the intended subject, that my buddy alan showed me.
Hold your hand out flat behind the mushrooms as a back drop, and then try focusing on the mushrooms- Often the mushrooms then come into focus!!
I have been amazed at how well this has worked for me.

[the_chosen_one]

heh, rare find in fall indeed i just found two pan subs in the yard today. took one for a print

[mjshroomer]

I wanted to mention that the large collection of subbs I found at a parking garage which I just recently mentioned in the other post on Panaeolus subbalteatus were fruiting in January and February. Remember, until this spring we had no snow fall for ten years here in Seattle and those two days or so were in March and April of this spring.

Sometimes we have warm winters and when sod or soil is laid in or around new buildings we get growth of shrooms from sprinkler systems.

mjshroomer

[cheshire]

hey mj, was just wanting to ask what is the difference between panaeolus subbalteatus and panaeolina foenisecii ID wise?

i have some pans that pop up in my garden around this time of year, so should be in the next month,
that look just like the pix you took of the pan subs but iv previously id'd them as bein pan foens
any help on spotting the difference?

[Godflesh]

Originally Posted by mjshroomer

Well P. caerulipes is in Michigan but is a spring and fall shroom until it gets 50 or below. I am just waiting on a herbarium collection of P. caerulipes form the U of Michigan to arrive in bangkok and int he spring I will compare it with the P. ovoideocystidiata found in West Virgina, Pennsylvania and Ohio. IT also resembles P. caerulipes and even P. cyanescens.

But grows in a warmer climate.

But It could be in Michigan. I am sure also of Gymnopilus in Michigan but i generally teach people to avoid any white gilled mushrooms or any orange to cinnamon colored gills, because the deadly species have those colors. Stick to purple brown to chocolate brown and you will be safe and to the black spores and gills of Copelandia and Panaeolus species.


Here is the URL to the description of Panaeolus subbalteatus and the images posted in my gallery for this species. This thread inspired me to go add the first of the sixty species but i need to work on the four pages of this species with some updates and some photo corrections

panaeolussubbalteatus1

mjshroomer

Thankyou for the info! I am going out on a foray today and will post results(If any).

[Jake420]

The following link is for P. foenisecii:
Panaeolus foenisecii: The Lawn Mower's Mushroom (MushroomExpert.Com)
An exerpt from Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World by Paul Stamets is included here for P. subbalteatus. This should help you in accurately identifying these mushrooms. Good luck!

[mjshroomer]

Pauls's picture of Panaeolus papilionaceus is incorrect. That is actually belongs tot he P. sphinctrinus complex. Tjakko Stijve and I have two articles form the late 1800s and early 1900s of sketches of P. papilionaceus and they do not match Paul's description of them.

There are other minor errors in his guide but no need to mention them in regards to Panaeolina foenisecii.

mjshroomer

[waylitjim]

Nice MJ.
Lookin forward to seein' some cyans.
We're almost there.

[the_chosen_one]

Originally Posted by cheshire

hey mj, was just wanting to ask what is the difference between panaeolus subbalteatus and panaeolina foenisecii ID wise?

i have some pans that pop up in my garden around this time of year, so should be in the next month,
that look just like the pix you took of the pan subs but iv previously id'd them as bein pan foens
any help on spotting the difference?

i got lucky and also found a panaeolina foenisecii shortly after i found the pan subs. here's a comparison between the spore prints. keep in mind that both fruits look almost identical from a distance.

the pan foe is on the left and the sub is on the right. without flash one can notice a slight variation of color. it's a little different irl as the camera does play some tricks with the light frequencies. see how the flash really brings out the purple brown color in the pan foe. more red-ish in the second photo. once again, a trick of lighting.
samples of both prints have been inspected under the scope, so i'm pretty confident of the id.

sorry, i know you were talking to mj, but the timing of the question was perfect