Wild species

Liberty Cap

Psilocybe semilanceata

aka Witch's hat · Psilocybe semilanceata

A small, slender grassland mushroom named for its sharply pointed crown, the liberty cap is the most widespread psilocybin species in temperate Europe and one of the most potent per gram in the entire genus. Unlike its dung-fruiting relatives, it feeds on decaying grass roots in pasture soil.

Field marks

Sharp nipple-like umbo
Conical bell-shaped cap
Colour shifts as it dries
Purple-brown spore print
Slender wavy stem
Grows in grass, not dung

Habitat

Damp, nutrient-rich grasslands, pastures, and lawns across the temperate Northern Hemisphere — especially the UK, northern Europe, and the Pacific Northwest — fruiting in autumn and early winter after rain.

Relative potency

highRelative only — this guide gives no dosing guidance.

Lookalikes — read this twice

Deadly Galerina marginata can occur along grassy or wood-debris margins and has caused fatal confusions; it lacks the sharp conical umbo and drops a rust-brown rather than purple-brown spore print. Panaeolus foenisecii, common in the same lawns, is non-psychoactive, lacks the pointed nipple, and prints jet black. Toxic Inocybe species in grassy edges can also mislead beginners and cause severe muscarinic poisoning.

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.