Roland Sheils - PSILOCYBIN MUSHROOMS: The Essential Guide to Growing and Using Magic Mushrooms

Let us imagine this situation, a cow paw on a grassy field on a dairy farm somewhere in the sun-drenched tropics. A single, magnificent specimen of Psilocybe cubensis stands at the top of this cow patty. His stalk is robust and feathery straight, and his cap is open, flat as a dinner plate. For the whole world, the cow patty seems to have somehow got a parasol to shade itself against the devastating effects of the sun. A black, dark, and almost infinite cloud of spores rains out of the darkness to locations unknown with any turning wind. However, keep this picture at the back of your mind as you read this chapter, which contains many things you need to know about mushroom biology.

This chapter includes a lot of complicated details and scientific jargon. You can only think of wading knowledge on the nature and biology of fungi. Then again, perhaps you are delighted to explore new fields of scientific knowledge. However, we ask you to help us, as knowing the fundamental processes in the mushroom life cycle can explain the cultivational techniques we present. When and when something doesn't suit the plan, this knowledge will allow you to understand what you see so that you can change your approach accordingly.

This chapter is about the elimination of misunderstandings as well as the introduction of new knowledge. That is because most of us believe we understand the mushrooms and how they work in the universe, and most of these ideas are false. When we first tried to grow mushrooms, we assumed we knew all about it, and our efforts were not quite spectacular. We only found success when we began to understand their mysteries.

What is a Mushroom?

Very few of us have anything to do with fungi, at least not with a choice. This is just like anything else, a cultural phenomenon. When most people believe in mushrooms, they picture the bland and harmless surfaces on their pizza or the exotic, ornate toads of a fairy tale and myth whose mere taste would drive a crazy person, if not kill him entirely. Mushrooms are fearful of poison or harmless vegetables for the vast majority of North Americans, and they do not deserve much thought. Even if you're in the tiny minority for which mushrooms provide fascination, wonder, and pleasure (probably due to one or more experiences with Psilocybe species), in your high school or college biology classes, you've probably learned little-by-little.

So, what is a mushroom exactly? A truffle is just one part of a fungus, not anything in itself, as you and your left elbow: w are related, but not the same. Strictly speaking, the reproductive structures of some mushrooms are roughly the same as the flowers of an apple tree, which contain "sowings" of future trees. Mushrooms are neither animal nor plant nor animal but are related to both. Not surprisingly, the correct classification of these elusive and hidden beings has always been subject to a lot of uncertainty. Most of us think of mushrooms and fungi as an odd variety of plants, often as they come from the ground like plants and seem incapable of walking (or dancing or swimming) as lucky animals can do. It is the most significant misunderstanding most of us have about fungi and the one you need to dispense with immediately. Here it is also: fungi are not plants, and developing mushrooms are not like gardening. Fungi are not animals either, although they are closer to animals than plants, given their appearances. Plants, algae, and certain bacteria synthesize their energy, carbon dioxide, and water and are known as autotrophs. All other organisms, including fungi, are heterotrophic, which means that they are derived from plants or food products (say, fish) or food items that eat plants (larger fish). However, this is almost where the similarities between animals and fungi end.

Classification and Taxonomy of Fungal

To order to understand how fungi fit into the "animal, vegetable and mineral" order, the more formal systems biology you use is to classify Y species, which are known as Linnaean taxonomical (the first Swedish botanist and physician to establish Carolus Linnaeus). Every single species has a specific Latin double (or binomial) name like Psilocybe basis or Homo sapiens in this framework. Such two names apply to the last two categories-genus and species-of an eight-part hierarchy organized by