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Mushroom ID Please?

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zaggy

Bluelighter
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May 29, 2010
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236
Location
California, Earth
Hi, I'm not sure if this would go against the "What do I have" rule under the forum guidelines, but would there happen to be some people on here who know how to identify psilocybian mushrooms?

These lil guys are brown/copper, some conical, and some domed. The gills are darker brown, perhaps black? They are growing in clusters (not attached) on mulch (woodchips) along with grass. There appears be no veil.

It has been raining alot recently and is very damp outside. Bay Area weather.

Liberty caps?

Pictures:
http://i54.tinypic.com/n3xop.jpg

http://i56.tinypic.com/2ztfshs.jpg

http://i51.tinypic.com/1vm1.jpg

If this violates the site guidelines, feel free to remove.
 
they look like the INACTIVE common lawn mushroom, Panaeolina foenisecii. Sometimes they are mistaken for Panaeolus subbalteatus (also known as Panaeolus cinctulus), the "belted" mushroom that is definitely active.

A spore print would help determine exactly what species it is.

Don't eat them.

The first step to identifying mushrooms is knowing what to expect in your climate for the particular habitat and time of year. For the west coast you're on the late side of the woodlover season, but bay area might still be fruiting. Look up Psilocybe cyanescens and azurescens and cyanofriscosa. These are the species you should look for, and they grow on woodchips. Beware of look-alike poisonous species like Galerina autumnalis (has a rusty brown spore print).
 
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if you have to ask you shouldnt be hunting... yah they look similar to liberty caps but why would you risk it.. idk eating random mushrooms has never been very high on my to do list.
 
yeah, lots of people get super excited when they read about mushrooms that might grow in their area. but in a moist climate like seattle or san francisco, there are quite literally millions of different species all fruiting during the autumn. just keep your eyes open and you will find green ones, yellow ones, some mushrooms big as your head just hanging out close to the ground where nobody ever looks.

familiarize yourself with the species you are likely to encounter, and always take your field guide into the field with you! wait, you don't have a field guide? Look up your local mycological society and they will probably have a good version to recommend for the avid mycophage. also invest in a small knife and brush to help you take clean specimens for later identification by an expert. learn how to take a spore print, and also learn how to dry mushrooms quickly to prevent decomposition. most of all, keep looking and have fun!
 
If you have to ask whether they're libs or not you need to familiarize yourself more with what libs look like - I was in the same boat a few months ago. Look up pictures and videos of them until you know exactly what you're looking for. Those look nothing like libs.
 
Thank you all for the insightful responses. I wasn't hunting, I just ran into this patch while walking around. I'll go back and get a specimen to take a print of. If I run into cyan specimens which greenmeanies said grow in my area, what color spore print should I be looking for?

Edit: Lol I see why it is definitely not liberty cap now. I just learned that the shape of the cap doesn't change considerably as it ages. I think I may have found some blue-bruising cyans in another area a while back, I'll go check there sometime and try to get a spore print.

Another question: What does it mean when a mushroom gives no spore print??
 
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^ it means the specimen is too young (immature gills are like immature testicles-- they won't produce any seed) or the printing environment is too dry (each spore is actually catapulted off the surface of the gill by the action of a microscopic water droplet), or you just didn't wait long enough.

best printing technique is to place the cap face down on clean, bright white paper (use black paper if you expect a white spore print, for example amanita species). then select a small (just bigger than the cap size) glass vessel, for example a teacup or shot glass. place a single drop of sterile or distilled water on the top of the cap to provide humidity for spores to drop. then invert the glass vessel over the cap, creating a humid terrarium for the cap to jizz all over your paper.

for best results, wait at least 12 hours undisturbed. very mature caps that have been freshly picked may show a spore print in as little as an hour, but those guys are sluts, getting their boys all in the air you're tryna breathe ;)

EDIT: missed the most important question lol. Ps. cyanescens will have a dark chocolate brown spore print with a hint of purple depending on the lighting. sometimes it can look almost black (and it will turn your fingernails black if you happen to pick a large cluster of mature caps)

the dangerous color to look out for is rusty brown, as this is definitive for the deadly galerina.
 
There's no way anyone can tell you with 100% accuracy what type of mushrooms you have over the internet. This is why we don't allow the "what do i have" type posts. If someone here got it wrong and you ate them & died, that wouldn't bode well for Bluelight. If you're not sure about what type of mushrooms you have, whether they be food or recreational, don't eat them. And if you're interested in mushroom hunting you should educate yourself thoroughly before picking & consuming anything you find in the wild.
 
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