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Tis the season for liberty caps

Yes, they're easy to identify, that's why it's easy to be sure you have the right ones. You shouldn't eat any mushroom without knowing what it is. AFAIK you're right & there aren't any poisonous mushrooms that look much like liberty caps, at least in the UK, you'd have to have no idea what a liberty cap looked like to pick a deadly mushroom. There are a few related & probably inactive (or at least weak - possibly nausea inducing) psilocybes that look similar, but they don't have a nipple, slightly different shaped cap.
 
St3ve said:
Anyone in Benelux/Germany/France seen any liberty caps yet? I think the temperatures might still be a bit too high for them to really start growing around here.
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I found a fair few in the Pyrenees a few weeks ago while wandering around tripping on AL-LAD, but it was surely a fair bit colder than where it sounds like you are.
 
Didn't see any in my local park today, sometimes get a few around here at this time of year, in a good year. There are some out on the moors, I'm going to try to get out tomorrow. I keep hoping for a cold wet late summer/autumn next year.
 
I've been seeing lots of psilocybe-looking fungus growing around the manicured edges of the corporate campuses here in Seattle, can't be sure though. Wild mushrooms scare me, but I would like to get over that and try some that I picked myself.

They look a lot like this image, which was also conicidentally taken at a local park here in the pacific northwest:

236426a1285637621-big.jpg


Looking on this website, I see TONS of familiar looking mushrooms that were found right in my neighborhood. I think my town is coated in cyanescens!!

http://mushroomobserver.org/species_list/show_species_list?id=244&letter=P
 
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ID isn't allowed here, go to Shroomery, but I can tell you those are certainly not liberty caps. No idea what they are, but not liberty caps, there's no way I'd eat those. The wikipedia page has some good photos & information https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocybe_semilanceata

Best way is to get somebody who knows what to look for & where to look, to show you, in person.
 
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The weather has definitely been a lot more shroomey friendly round my parts so I think a trip to north wales is in order see what I can get befor the frost comes in because it's getting very cold at night very quickly now as we'll :(
 
I don't want to break any forum rules, but I feel like it would be a shame if I didn't let you know those pictured mushrooms are either cyanescens or cyanofibrillosa, both of which tend to be a good bit stronger than cubensis. They grow around here, prolifically. In that pic, they are late. They are best picked when the cap is shaped like a sine wave and has a defined nipple. A spore print would be the way to go, but honestly just from looking at that picture I have no doubts. I've been finding those exact ones for years. Where I live there are no look alikes to cyans but I cannot guarantee anyone else will have the same circumstances. Cyanescens are fucking awesome. Definitely a different vibe than cubes.. Hard to describe though. Cosmic. I haven't eaten libs but my brother had a dose and said he had the most astounding auditory hallucinations he has ever had. And yes, Seattle is quite literally coated in cyanescens.

People have been known to pick many mushies anywhere from northern CA to WA. There are cyans, azures, and libs, all up and down the coast. Spread the love :)
 
Well today im going to be going on one of the last picks ill be doing this season depending on what harvest i get from this place depends on if i go further and on another adventure later in the week beautifull places to walk around but not so much fun in the cold and wind when you dont get a good harvest so i shall be letting you all know how i get on later and if i shall be able to fill the rest of my jar befor season ends happy picking :)
 
You need to be tough if you want liberty caps. There are more of them when it's cold & wet, they need cold wet conditions, less competition from other pickers too. I've been waiting because it's been too warm. Pick right until we start getting bad frosts.

I might need to find some waterproof hiking boots or something though, it's the wet grass that does me worst, end up with really soggy feet. Just wear proper clothing & places like that are great all year.

Does anybody know if Psilocybe strictipes is active? worth eating? They often grow near liberty caps. I suppose I should ask on shroomery.
 
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Well i went for ap ick yesteurday and between me my girlfriend and my other mate i think we must of got about 2000 found a new field well labrinth of fields where everyone we walked onto there they were. :) thanlast field we picked had the most shrooms on ive ever seen in my entire life there was literally patches of 20/30 all within a step of each other couldnt pick the ones infront of us quick enough befor trippin over yourself to race to get the nexts ones! Some libbys were the bigger than say like golfs balls on a T no joke. So i will definately be going back out with my wellies untill this frost comes this year haha
 
Right i didnt know what psilocybe strictipes were so ive googled them and checked on shroomery and they just look like liberty caps to me but greenthumb you said they grow near libbys can you elabirate abit more or is that going to be identifying them or against forum rules?
 
I'm pretty sure the only way to differentiate between liberty caps and p. strictipes is to take a spore print. Both species fruit in the same conditions (often side by side), look more or less identical and either can grow with or without a nipple. I wouldn't be surprised if people regularly harvest a few p. strictipes along with their liberty caps unknowingly.
 
Libbymuncher said:
Right i didnt know what psilocybe strictipes were so ive googled them and checked on shroomery and they just look like liberty caps to me but greenthumb you said they grow near libbys can you elabirate abit more or is that going to be identifying them or against forum rules?
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They look very similar to liberty caps, related species, grow in similar places too, often right next to libs. If you've picked liberty caps before without knowing about them, you've probably had some strictipes too. They have a less pronounced nipple, slightly different shaped cap with straighter sides & the cap doesn't curl under so much. There are some differences in the gills too. Most obvious difference is they have less of a nipple.

Spore prints I've seen on shroomery looked similar to me, but I'm not expert on those.

I'm just not sure how active they are, never eaten them alone & tried to avoid picking them, until I saw recently they might be active. Possibly they're not as strong, maybe add some nausea, but I'm not sure. I used to avoid them & pull them out of my friend's picks because they aren't libs, but they're probably active too. They can be more common in some places & they seem more likely to grow on grass verges, parks, etc than liberty caps.

I guess they're less active than libs & it's possible they're responsible for nausea. That's just a guess though. I saw a few photos from people who had picked them on shroomery, I didn't see them return to say how active they are (if at all).
 
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Libbymuncher said:
Well i went for ap ick yesteurday and between me my girlfriend and my other mate i think we must of got about 2000 found a new field well labrinth of fields where everyone we walked onto there they were. :) thanlast field we picked had the most shrooms on ive ever seen in my entire life there was literally patches of 20/30 all within a step of each other couldnt pick the ones infront of us quick enough befor trippin over yourself to race to get the nexts ones! Some libbys were the bigger than say like golfs balls on a T no joke. So i will definately be going back out with my wellies untill this frost comes this year haha
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Nice one, I'll have to go out next week. It's always better when you can pick thousands in a short time, even if you do get frostbite & trench foot. More come out when it's cold & wet. Cold nights are all we need really I think.

I want to try spreading some to more convenient places to pick too, like my back garden. Only done it successfully by accident on some bowling greens in the past. They put sand on bowling greens, btw, they were gritty.
 
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DrGreenthumb said:
Nice one, I'll have to go out next week. It's always better when you can pick thousands in a short time, even if you do get frostbite & trench foot. More come out when it's cold & wet. Cold nights are all we need really I think.

I want to try spreading some to more convenient places to pick too, like my back garden. Only done it successfully by accident on some bowling greens in the past. They put sand on bowling greens, btw, they were gritty.
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Haha i thought walking round a field looking like you lived in alaska was apart of the shroomy experience haha, untill this year i didnt realise you could go picking without atleast the standard 5 layers on :) id spread them in my garden if it wasnt all flagstone haha. Its just a pain drying them out and finding somewhere to do it when you live with your mum and dad they dont mind the odd 50 or so on the side but id imagine they might mind when my bedroom floor becomes a shroom drying little insect infested mess haha
 
St3ve said:
Anyone in Benelux/Germany/France seen any liberty caps yet? I think the temperatures might still be a bit too high for them to really start growing around here.
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last week I - absolutely randomly - found a few (650mg dry) on a village sports ground in midwest germany. altitude ~400m. couldn't believe my eyes...
actually they were brutally potent. I'd estimate 15-20mg of tryptamines...
a month a go I didn't have luck in the northern austrian alps - albeit hunting together with a mushroom veteran...

does anyone know about active species on the southern flanks of the alps (trentino/veneto)?
 
The mainly grow in fields where animals have been grassing, if not go out to the country and look near long grass and tree stumps, I have pictures of huge amount of librety caps I've found breeding in one area (Around 30-50)
 
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