Psilocybin-containingHymenogastraceaeNew Zealand
Psilocybe makarorae
A rarely recorded endemic New Zealand forest species described from the Makarora area.
Regional status: Endemic to New Zealand
- Cap
- Small to medium, brown, hygrophanous and commonly umbonate.
- Gills
- Attached gills that become purple-brown as spores mature.
- Stem
- Slender and pale, staining blue after damage.
- Flesh
- Pale flesh with blue staining.
- Spore print
- Purple-brown.
- Habitat
- Native forest wood and litter, including southern beech forest.
- Distribution
- New Zealand South Island; records are sparse.
- Season
- Autumn.
- Bruising
- Blue on damage.
- Odour
- Mild fungal.
- Potency
- Data deficient
Key features
- ▪Native beech-forest context
- ▪Umbonate brown cap
- ▪Purple-brown spores
- ▪Blue staining
Field tests
- Document substrate and surrounding trees
- Take a spore print
- Require expert or microscopic confirmation because records are rare
Edibility
Psychoactive chemistry is reported, but potency is not reliably quantified.
Warning
Very poorly documented and easily confused with other small brown forest mushrooms, including dangerous Galerina species.
Photo and feature-based identification is probabilistic. Never consume a wild mushroom on the basis of an app result — confirm with an experienced mycologist.