Wild species

Flying Saucer

Psilocybe azurescens

aka Blue angel · Azzies · Psilocybe azurescens

A large, cold-tolerant wood-lover confined to a narrow strip of Pacific coastline, with some of the highest psilocybin concentrations recorded in any mushroom. Closely related to the wavy cap, but generally bigger and stronger.

Field marks

Large convex to flat cap
Chestnut to caramel colour
Intense blue bruising
Long hollow whitish stem
Purple-black spore print
Grows in dune grass

Habitat

Woody debris in sandy coastal soils, closely tied to dune grass and driftwood-strewn beaches near the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon and Washington. Fruits late September into January, tolerating cold better than most of the genus.

Relative potency

very highRelative only — this guide gives no dosing guidance.

Lookalikes — read this twice

Deadly Galerina marginata occurs in overlapping wood-debris habitat along the Pacific coast and must be ruled out by spore print — rust-brown, not purple-black — before any wood-loving mushroom here is considered. Psilocybe cyanescens overlaps in range and appearance, separable mainly by this species' larger size and less wavy margin. Wood-loving Psilocybes including this one are also associated anecdotally with wood lover's paralysis, a temporary muscle weakness reported after ingestion.

Deadly species grow in the same places as psilocybin ones and can resemble them closely. Never eat a wild mushroom identified from a website — including this one.