Gymnopilus aeruginosus

Gymnopilus aeruginosus is mushroom which grows in clusters on dead wood and wood chip mulch. It is widely distributed and common in the Pacific Northwest. It has a rusty orange spore print and a bitter taste and contains the hallucinogen psilocybin.

Additional recommended knowledge

Safe Weighing Range Ensures Accurate Results

Essential Laboratory Skills Guide

Weighing the right way

Description

The cap ranges from 6 to 17 cm across, is convex to plane, blueish when young and is bright orange, orangish brown, or reddish brown with a dry scaly surface which is sometimes cracked in age. The flesh is white, often with blue and green tinges and the gills are crowded, yellow to orange, and adnexed to adnate or slightly subdecurrent. The stem is dusted with rusty orange spores and has a cottony scanty partial veil.