Description

!!!NOT A CUBE AND NOT SUITABLE FOR BEGINNERS!!!

Special care and attention must be taken to properly examine under the scope.

First discovered in 1979 by a group of Boy Scouts near the Columbia River in Oregon, it was officially classified by Paul Stamets in 1996. It is only found naturally in the wild in the Pacific Northwest, though there has been other feral populations in other areas such as New Mexico, Vermont, Ohio, Wisconson, and even over in Germany! There is a very thin, gelatinous veil that separates the pileus and stipe (cap and stem). They are found in the wild on decidous wood chips or sandy coastal soils that has an abundance of woody material in tigh, separated clusters. This is a cold weather species and is able to handle temperatures much colder than other species of Pilocybe.

Season: Late September through December, usually starting when the temperatures drop to the 40F range after a rain. You will find these only in a small area along the coast of Washington and Oregon, the mouth of the colombia is the best. They grow on alder and in grasses where there is a high lignin content. Dune grasses are another area which are very good for P. azurescens.

Spores: 12-13.5 x 6.5-8.0 um, rich reddish brown in KOH and light purplish vinaceous in aqeous ammoniacal solutions. Wall thickness less than 1 um. Caulocystidia abundant above the annular zone and similar to pleurocystidia but thicker walled and more irregular, measuring 43um long with undulated necks. Cortial hyphae on stipe slightly thickened, almost subgelatinized walls, 3 – 5 um in diameter with clamps and brown intra-perital pigment.