Psilocybin-containingHymenogastraceaeUKEurope

Psilocybe fimetaria

Dung-loving psilocybe

Small blueing dung and pasture species of UK and European grassland, with a fine cobwebby ring zone.

Regional status: Native across the UK and northern Europe

Cap: Conical to bell-shaped, 8–25 mm, buff to olive-brown, hygrophanous, often with a small umbo.
Gills: Adnate, pale greyish then dark purple-brown with whitish edges.
Stem: 30–70 mm, whitish, blueing at the base, with a fibrillose ring zone and white mycelium threads.
Flesh: Thin, whitish, blueing where cut.
Spore print: Dark purple-brown
Habitat: Rich grassland, horse and cow dung, manured pasture and lawn edges.
Distribution: United Kingdom, Ireland, northern and central Europe; also recorded in North America.
Season: August – December
Bruising: Blue to blue-green on the stem base and where handled.
Odour: Farinaceous
Potency: Moderate

Key features

▪Cobwebby ring zone on the stem
▪Blue stem base
▪Grows in manured grass, often near dung

Field tests

Check for a purple-brown spore print, not rusty brown
Scratch the stem base and wait for a blue reaction

Edibility

Psilocybin-containing; not a food species.

Warning

Small brown dung mushrooms include deadly Galerina and Pholiotina species. Never eat on appearance alone.

Lookalikes

Galerina marginatadeadly

Galerina has a rusty-brown spore print and never bruises blue. It contains amatoxins.

Pholiotina rugosadeadly

Pholiotina has a rusty-brown spore print, a distinct membranous ring and no blue bruising.

Photo and feature-based identification is probabilistic. Never consume a wild mushroom on the basis of an app result — confirm with an experienced mycologist.