Psilocybe cubensis
Description
Psilocybe cubensis is a species of psychedelic mushroom whose principal active compounds are psilocybin and psilocin. It belongs to the fungus family Hymenogastraceae and was previously known as Stropharia cubensis. It is the most well-known psilocybin mushroom due to its wide distribution and ease of cultivation.
More than 180 psilocybin-containing mushrooms species are found all around the world. When eaten these can induce hallucinogenic/psychedelic effects. The key ingredient found in these mushrooms is psilocybin. Psilocybin is a so-called pro-drug which means that it is converted in the body to psilocin which is a chemical with psychoactive properties. Additional chemicals commonly present in minor amounts include psilocin itself, baeocystin and norbaeocystin although the extent to which these contribute to the overall effects is unclear.
Common names: Magic Mushrooms, Golden Halos, Cubes, Or Gold Caps.
Mushroom Identification
Cap
1.5-8 (10) cm broad, broadly conical or oval or bell-shaped (often with an umbo) when young, gradually expanding to convex, broadly umbonate, or plane; surface smooth or with small whitish veil remnants when young, viscid when moist, soon dry, color variable: whitish with a brown to yellowish center, or entirely yellow to yellowish-buff to yellow-brown, or sometimes cinnamon-brown when young and sometimes dingy olive in old age; bruising and aging bluish; margin sometimes hung with veil remnants.
Flesh
White, staining blue or blue-green when bruised.
Gills
Adnate to adnexed or seceding to free
Stipe
4-15 cm long, 0.4-1-5 cm thick, equal or more often thicker below, dry, white or sometimes yellowish to yellow-brown, aging or bruising blue or blue-green; smooth.
Veil
Membranous, white or bluish-stained, usually forming a thin, fragile, superior ring on a stalk which is blackened by falling spores.
Spores
11-17x7-12 microns, elliptical, smooth, thick-walled, with a large apical germ pore. Cystidia present on faces of gills, but chrysocystidia are absent.
Spore Print
Dark purple-brown to blackish.
Bruising
Blue or blue-green
Mycelium
Strong rhizomorphic white.
Natural Habitat
Psilocybe cubensis is a coprophilic fungus (a dung-loving species) that often colonizes the dung of large herbivores, most notably cows and other grazing mammals such as goats. It prefers humid grasslands and has been found in tropical and subtropical environments. In the US, it is sometimes found growing wild in the South, generally below the 35th parallel. It has been found in modern times in the highlands and river valleys of Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela in South America. It has also been found throughout Thailand, Cambodia, India, South Africa, and Australia.
Psilocybe cubensis can be found where humidity is above 85% a lot of the time, and where grass-eating mammals are. The reason cubensis grows commonly on the dung of these animals is because they have no or very little stomach acid. The cow eats feed with mushroom spores on it, and the spores germinate in the cow's moist, warm stomach.
No, cubensis is not found under cow patties, and you should not consume anything you find under cow pies. Cubensis can be found within a few hundred miles of the Gulf Coast reliably, especially in fall and spring, all the way from Galveston, TX to Miami, FL. as far north as middle Tennessee.
Legality in 2025
Under the Natural Medicine Health Act passed by Colorado voters in 2022, the legal landscape for psilocybin and other natural psychedelics has significantly evolved. Adults aged 21 and older may now legally grow, possess, use, and share certain naturally occurring psychedelic substances, including psilocybin, psilocin, DMT, ibogaine, and mescaline (excluding peyote). This decriminalization applies to personal use within a regulated framework.
Starting in 2024, Colorado will begin licensing therapeutic facilities where trained professionals can administer these substances. By 2026, the law allows for the inclusion of additional compounds pending review. Importantly, local governments are not permitted to ban the use of these substances, and individuals are protected from professional or public benefit-related consequences unless federal law explicitly requires them.
The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) is tasked with overseeing this program, including licensing, safety protocols, and compliance enforcement.
In several countries, psilocybin mushrooms are fully legal to grow, possess, sell, and consume without restriction:
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🇳🇱 Netherlands: Although psilocybin mushrooms were banned in 2008, a legal loophole allows the sale and use of magic truffles, which contain the same psychoactive compounds. These are fully legal, taxed, and widely available in smart shops across the country.
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🇧🇷 Brazil: Psilocybin and psilocin as isolated substances are illegal, but psilocybin mushrooms themselves are not. There are no laws directly banning them, no legal precedents for arrests, and they are commonly sold online without interference.
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🇯🇲 Jamaica: Psilocybin mushrooms have never been made illegal. They are openly cultivated, sold, and consumed, with local companies like Cosmic Mushrooms operating legally.
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🇳🇵 Nepal: Magic mushrooms are unregulated and legal. They are considered uncontrolled substances, and their use is permitted throughout the country, including in popular areas like the Everest region.
Cultivation Tips
Personal-scale cultivation of Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms ranges from the relatively simple and small-scale PF Tek and other "cake" methods, that produce a limited amount of mushrooms, to advanced techniques utilizing methods of professional mushroom cultivators. These advanced methods require a greater investment of time, money, and knowledge, but reward the diligent cultivator with far larger and much more consistent harvests.
Full cultivation details you can find in this PDF.
History
The species was first described in 1906 as Stropharia cubensis by American mycologist Franklin Sumner Earle in Cuba. In 1907 it was identified as Naematoloma caerulescens in Tonkin (now northern Vietnam) by French pharmacist and mycologist Narcisse Théophile Patouillard, while in 1941 it was called Stropharia cyanescens by William Alphonso Murrill near Gainesville in Florida. German-born mycologist Rolf Singer moved the species into the genus Psilocybe in 1949, giving it the binomial name Psilocybe cubensis. The synonyms were later also assigned to the species Psilocybe cubensis.
The name Psilocybe is derived from the Ancient Greek roots psilos (ψιλος) and kubê (κυβη), and translates as "bare head". Cubensis means "coming from Cuba", and refers to the type locality published by Earle.
A common name in Thai is "Hed keequai", which translates as "mushroom which appears after water buffalo defecates".
Photo sources:
Photo 1 - Author: Alan Rockefeller (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Photo 2 - Author: Dr. Brainfish (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Photo 3 - Author: Myco-il (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Photo 4 - Author: Zergboy (Public Domain)
