Life Science Encyclopedia

Panaeolina foenisecii is a very common and widely distributed little brown mushroom often found on lawns. It fruits in warm weather and does not contain the hallucinogen psilocybin despite several erroneous reports to the contrary. [1] In 1963 Tyler and Smith found that this mushroom contains serotonin, 5-htp and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid.

It is sometimes mistaken for the hallucinogenic Panaeolus subbalteatus or Panaeolus castaneifolius which both share the same habitat and can be differentiated by their jet black spores.

Description

• Cap: 1.5 to to 3 cm across, conic to convex, chestnut brown to tan, hygrophanous, often with a dark band around the margin which fades as the mushroom dries.
• Gills: Broad, adnate, brown with lighter edges, becoming mottled as the spores mature.
• Spores: Walnut brown, 13 x 7 micrometers, finely roughened with an apical germ pore.
• Stipe: 4 to 6 cm by 2 to 3 mm, fragile, hollow, white to light brown, pruinose and slightly striate.
• Taste: Mild with a slight tryptamine odor which smells slightly like a zoo.
• Odor: Distinctive mushroom taste with zoo-like tryptamine overtones.