Jumping ship: is the world's most potent Psilocybe taking over the world's woodchip piles

ONLINE TALK
Psilocybe subaeruginosa has a reputation like few other Australian fungi. It is a tenacious species, highly competitive, often found on university campuses and roadside mulch beds. It is a highly talked about, incredibly photogenic species.  Many fungi discussion groups prefer to not talk about it - an ID perhaps but then change the subject. Within more underground communities it is a hot topic, “when does it grow”, “where can i find it”, “how do i consume it”. But because of its legal status and reputation, it has been ignored by the wider academic community. There are now a lot of questions about whether it is one species or many, and what is its relationship to overseas species such as P. azurescens, P. cyanescens and P. alleni.

Caine Barlow has had a long term interest in the broad variety in appearance, and the biogeography of this species. In this talk, he discusses the ecology and biology of P. subaeruginosa including the history and the confusion around this species, and summaries current theories.

Donations go to the Wild Fungi DNA project. The project aims to make DNA methods more accessible to citizen mycologists and to collect data on rare and endangered fungi. https://myco.org.au/wild-dna-project/