Psilocybe cyanescens Spores: Syringes, Prints & Isolates

Psilocybe cyanescens, the Wavy Cap, is a wood-loving species of temperate climates, fruiting in autumn on wood chips and mulch across the UK, northern Europe and the Pacific Northwest. It is not Panaeolus cyanescens, which shares the species epithet but belongs to a different genus, grows on dung and has a black print.

The cap is caramel when moist, drying paler, with the wavy margin that gives the common name. The print is purple-brown and the spores are ellipsoid, roughly 9 to 12 by 5 to 8 micrometres, noticeably smaller than cubensis. Material is sold as prints and multispore syringes from wild collections, often labelled by region. Check the species name on the label carefully given the clash with Pan Cyan.

• Species: Psilocybe cyanescens (not Panaeolus cyanescens)
• Habitat: wood chips and mulch, temperate climates, autumn
• Spore print: purple-brown
• Spores: ellipsoid, roughly 9 to 12 by 5 to 8 micrometres
• Also sold as: wild collection prints, multispore syringes