Psilocybin-containingHymenogastraceaeUKEurope

Psilocybe strictipes

Slender psilocybe

Grassland relative of the liberty cap with a rounded, non-nippled cap and a slender straight stem.

Regional status: Native to northern and central Europe

Cap: Convex to conical, 10–30 mm, without the sharp nipple of the liberty cap, ochre drying pale.
Gills: Adnate, pale then dark purple-brown.
Stem: 40–90 mm, slender, straight, whitish, blueing at the base.
Flesh: Very thin, blueing.
Spore print: Dark purple-brown
Habitat: Unimproved and fertilised grassland, pasture and lawns, not on dung.
Distribution: Northern and central Europe including the UK, Scandinavia and the Baltic; also North America.
Season: September – November
Bruising: Blue at the stem base with handling.
Odour: Slightly farinaceous
Potency: Potent

Key features

▪Rounded cap with no pointed nipple
▪Slender straight stem
▪Grassland, never on dung

Field tests

Compare cap tip against a liberty cap to check for the missing umbo
Take a spore print: dark purple-brown

Edibility

Psilocybin-containing; not a food species.

Warning

Easily confused with small brown grassland species including toxic Conocybe and Pholiotina.

Lookalikes

Psilocybe semilanceatalow

The liberty cap has a sharply pointed nipple; P. strictipes does not.

Panaeolina foeniseciimoderate

The mower's mushroom has a mottled dark brown spore print and never bruises blue.

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