Panaeolus cinctulus/Panaeolina foenisecii season

[sage-borodin]

Discovered some suspected Panaeolina foenisecii patches, as well as harvested some Panaeolus cinctulus from my usual fields.

The picture of the four caps on paper represents samples from the four discovered patches, after the prints are complete I will proceed to examine the spores microscopically.

Panaeolus cinctulus spores are roughly 12 x 8 µm, they are ellipitic-citriform, and quite thick-walled, one important feature to note is that they are smooth.

Panaeolina foenisecii spores are roughly 12 - 17 x 7 - 11 μm, they can be "lemon" shaped or are subfusoid, they are rough, this is an important feature to note, The spores appear to have what I can only call tiny bumps on them, they are not smooth.

Other microscopic features exist for both species, however, when attempting to determine whether you have panaeolina foenisecii or Panaeolus cinctulus smooth versus rough is my main focus.

Panaeolina foenisecii spore prints are rust to dark brown.

Panaeolus cinctulus spore prints are jet black.

I still prefer microscopic confirmation, as visually things can get a but confusing, specially when dealing with particularly dark shades of brown.

There are reports of intoxication from Panaeolina foenisecii, many speculated to be psychedelic experiences induced by psilocybin as the example below demonstrates:

This Panaeolus is common in the grass and looks fairly boring, but—in this case—looks deceive....
In some parts of the U.S., P. foenisecii contains psilocybin, the same pyschoactive agent found in magic mushrooms. There is some evidence that P. foenisecii may be hallucinogenic.
A number of cases have been reported involving children eating P. foenisecii and apparently having hallucinations. Mushroom poisoning expert Marilyn Shaw reports one case in which a man was mowing his lawn in Denver and found his child with "mushrooms around her mouth." Her mother said the little girl was later "banging her head" and holding her head and was frightened of both her parents. The kid was not acting as if she had a stomach ache. At the hospital in the middle of the night, Marilyn identified the mushrooms as P. foenisecii, and the doctor administered a tranquilizer. In another case, a child at a summer camp ate about 30 mushrooms, and the counselor believed she was later hallucinating.
http://urbanmushrooms.com/index.php?id=42

Panaeolina foenisecii contains serotonin, which is not orally active due to an exposed amine nitrogen which makes the molecule amenable to oxidative deamination by monoamine oxidase enzymes, and the molecule has an open hydroxy grouping off of carbon atom number 5 of the indole ring, with acts as a large polar, hydrophilic block to passage beyond the blood brain barrier.
panaeolina foenisecii also contain 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, this is the deamination product of serotonin, after the amine nitrogen has been enzamatically removed from the ethylamine side chain of the serotonin molecule 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid results. I seriously doubt that oral ingestion of this compound would be responsible for the reports of intoxication after consuming Panaeolina foenisecii.
Panaeolina foenisecii also produce 5-HTP, 5-hydroxy-tryptophan. 5-HTP is available as a supplement, it can produce upset stomach, changes in perception and mood, sleepiness, vivid dreams and nightmares, anxiety, and other effects, all of which resemble the anecdotes of Panaeolina foenisecii intoxication very closely, and in my opinion, this is the compound responsible for the psychoactive effects of Panaeolina foenisecii.

However, Panaeolina foenisecii and Panaeolus cinctulus grow in the same environment during the same times of year, and can often be found growing together. Since psilocybin is water soluble, and since water soluble nutrients and compounds can be transferred across mycelium through hyphae, it may be possible that the Panaeolus cinctulus mycelium is passing psilocybin to the Panaeolina foenisecii mycelium through the intermingled hyphae of both myceliums, though this is some fairly long shot speculation, but it does lead me to my next theory regarding Panaeolina foenisecii intoxication, and that is misidentification. Panaeolus cinctulus may be far more common than assumed and could be either growing alone, or growing with Panaeolina foenisecii in these cases of reported intoxication.

Regardless, I have been collecting and studying both Panaeolina foenisecii
And Panaeolus cinctulus for quite some time, and will continue to do so.

All of the pictures are of suspected Panaeolina foenisecii, I don't post my Panaeolus cinctulus harvests for obvious reasons.

[sage-borodin]

Spore print results are pictured below.

The large cap that dropped sufficient spires gave a great print, the other 3 were very light, I'm certain these are Panaeolina foenisecii, they just leave dark prints, regardless, microscopic examination tomorrow will confirm their identity.

I am going to start printing more and more samples as the season goes on in an attempt to confirm or disprove my theories regarding Panaeolina foenisecii, the collected data has proven useful for other means as well, this is the 6th season that I have been collecting and testing Panaeolina foenisecii and Panaeolus cinctulus. Eventually I am going to GC/MS extracts from my collected samples as well to determine alkaloid content and quantity from my various collected samples.

Over the years I have recorded the location, time, date, conditions, and substrate which I had collected the fungi. All samples are catalogued with this information as well as spore prints and other miscellaneous information pertaining to the sample.

[sage-borodin]

The lawn mower's mushroom, in fact, may well be dangerous for toddlers, since it is known in some instances to contain small amounts of psilocybin. Chemical analysis has revealed this hallucinogen in some collections from some parts of North America. Elsewhere, the mushrooms appear to be inactive.
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/panaeolus_foenisecii.html

Weaker hallucinogenic mushroom species are also found in lawns and gardens. The Belted Paneolus (Paneolus subalteatus) grows on manure mulched flower beds. Belted Paneolus is said to be weakly psychoactive and more toxic than magic mushrooms. The Haymower's Mushroom (Panaeolus foenisecii) is common on lawns and is usually considered non‑psychoactive. However, there have been occasional reports of hallucinations in children who have grazed on these mushrooms, suggesting that at least some specimens contain psilocybin.
http://urbanmushrooms.com/index.php?id=64

Panaeolina foenisecii was first investigated for the presence of indole compounds by Tyler and Smith (1963). They detected no psilocybin or psilocin in the specimens they analyzed, but did report the occurrence of 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin), along with 5-hydroxytryptophan, and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid. Two years later, Holden (1965) reported a suspected poisoning in a young English boy who became ill with tachycardia and mydriasis after allegedly consuming Panaeolina foenisecii). Specimens of the fungus collected in England and examined by Holden in 1969, contained no detectable psilocybin or psilocin (Mantle & Waight 1969).

Ola'h (1968a; 1968b; 1969; 1970) studied this species and described it as being 'latent psilocybian' (i.e., only producing these compounds sporadically). Robbers et al. (1969), reported detection of psilocybin in two collections of P. foenisecii, -- one from Lafayette, Indiana, and another from Quebec, Canada. A third collection of the fungus, from Seattle, Washington, did not contain psilocybin.

In 1972 Fiusello and Ceruti-Scurti reported analysis of an Italian collection of P. foenisecii and found psilocybin present in one of two samples. Specimens collected during the spring of 1972 in Seattle, Washington tested negative (Enos 1972; Brolyn 1990). Later that same year, Miller (1972) commented on a case of poisoning that occurred earlier in 1966, in which this fungus was eaten by a four year old boy who "...was rendered comatose for a short time." Two years later, Southcott (1974) reported the above cited Australian case.

Although much earlier, Cleland (1934) first recorded the presence of the "haymaker's mushroom" in Australia, he identified the fungus as Psilocybe foenisecii (Pers.) Fr. (the Latin name Foenisecia, means "Hay-harvest). Cleland made no mention regarding the species toxicity or edibility.

Specimens of P. foenisecii collected near Canberra, Australia were analyzed by R.W. Rickards (cf. Southcott 1974) and were reported as being psilocybin negative. Ott (1976), citing Robbers et al. (1969) as his source, noted that P. foenisecii specimens from Ontario and Indiana were tested as psilocybin positive. The specimens referred to above were actually collected in Quebec and Indiana. Ott (1974-1975) later mentioned that he himself ingested a large number of the "haymaker's mushroom collected near Olympia, Washington; he reported no noticeable effects.

Pollock (1976) based the following statement on a study by Ola'h (1970) involving five samples of P. foenisecii (four from Quebec and one from Paris); "two from Quebec contained both psilocybin and psilocin, whereas the one from Paris and one of the two other samples from Quebec contained psilocybin."

Ott and Guzman (1976) carried out further investigations regarding the production of psilocybin and psilocin in P. foenisecii. They analyzed specimens from the Federal District of Mexico and found them to be void of psilocybin. Ott and Pollock (Guzman et al. 1976) also collected specimens of P. foenisecii from Oregon in 1975. No psilocybin was detected.

Haard and Haard (1975) suggested that psilocybin and psilocin are only found in this fungus in the United States on the East Coast; while Menser (1977) noted that "Western analyses have often shown the presence of psilocybin (but not psilocin) in small amounts only" (the authors of the present study found no reference verifying either Menser's or Haard and Haard's claims). Singer (1978) also ingested "raw" specimens of this species. He reported no "psychotropic" effects whatsoever. Subsequent chemical analysis of P. foenisecii by Singer (1991, Pers. Comm.) was negative. Arora (1979), believing this species to be harmless, stated that the " 'chemical analysis have revealed traces of psilocybin in certain strains, but [the] material I tested was inactive."

In 1977, Allen (1988a) collected a species of Panaeolina in Oxnard, California which macroscopically resembled P. foenisecii; later, Allen bioassayed this species and found that the mushrooms (40 fresh specimens weighing 52 gm) were definitely psychoactive. No voucher specimens were saved for examination. It is possible that the specimens collected in this case were misidentified by Allen and were actually Panaeolus castaneifolius (Murr.) Ola'h=Panaeolina castaneifolius (Murr.) Smith, or a similar related variety of Panaeolus. Allen (1988b) also reported that two elderly ladies were intoxicated by Panaeolina foenisecii in Portland, Oregon.

It is possible that when Panaeolina foenisecii is collected from lawns, taxonomic identification is made, and specimens are passed on for chemical identification, other species known to macroscopically resemble Panaeolina foenisecii are unintentionally included in these collections. The other species could include Panaeolus subbalteatus Berkeley & Broome and/or Panaeolina castaneifolius (Murr) Ola'h=Panaeolina castaneifolius (Murr.) Smith (see figs. 3 & 4). According to Stijve (1989, pers. comm.), this would explain why some collections of Panaeolina foenisecii have been reported to be positive for psilocybin

https://erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/mus ... cle4.shtml

Misc.

The genus Panaeolus typically has a ± white, yellow-brown or brown cap, often ± conic or bell-shaped, viscid or dry, occasionally with remnants of a partial veil at the edges. A separable surface layer is not present. The pallid gills are attached to the stipe and typically are mottled black with the dark spores, because the spores do not all mature at the same time and the immature spores contain little pigment. A ring may be present.
Western North America has 1-2 active species of Panaeolus—Panaeolus subbalteatus and one possibly active species—Panaeolus semiovatus. (167,166) Other species such as Panaeolus castaneifolius, Panaeolus fimicola and possibly Panaeolina foenisecii (= Panaeolus foenisecii) are latently hallucinogenic. Stamets notes that a form of the latter, which occasionally bruises blue, has been found in the grassy coastal areas of California and may be a new species. (166)
http://www.mykoweb.com/TFWNA/P-47.html

(Notice how the Panaeolina foenisecii spores are covered in "bumps", they are not smooth, the almost look wrinkled, this is more obvious in the illustration than the actual photo, however, it is this feature which will help one distinguish Panaeolina foenisecii spores from Panaeolus cinctulus spores, which are smooth.

The other illustration depicts look alike species, the most prominent theory being misidentification of one of theses species accounting for reports of Panaeolina foenisecii being psychedelic.

One theory I have had, which I have not heard mentioned was perhaps the Panaeolina foenisecii mycellium was growing together with Panaeolus cinctulus mycelium, and through hyphae the Panaeolus cinctulus mycelium would be passing water soluble tryptamines such as psilocybin to the Panaeolina foenisecii mycelium, resulting In psilocybin and psilocin being present in the fruiting bodies of Panaeolina foenisecii...This is just speculating though.