This magic shroom is capable of producing sclerotia, also commonly known as truffles. Sclerotia are basically mushrooms which grow underground and have the same psychedelic effects because of similar levels of psychedelic compounds – psilocybin and psilocin. P. tampanensis’ truffles are also called “philosopher’s stones.”
Psilocybe Tampanensis Strain Guide
Psilocybe tampanensis’ caps are usually convex with a slight nipple-like structure at the center. As the shroom ages, the cap expands to 2.4cm. It also changes colors depending on the amount of water it contains. Fresh, hydrated shrooms are ochraceous brown to buff and sticky. Dried shrooms become yellowish-grey when dry with slight, bluish tones at the edges.
The gills are attached to the stem, and have a brown to dark purple hue which become lighter towards the edges.
Psilocybe tampanensis’ stem reaches 6cm in length and can be between 1mm to 2mm thick with an equal width throughout. The top of the stem has fibrils with a partial, web-like veil. This stem also contains a whitish to yellowish flesh.
Spores from this shroom is usually purple brown. When viewed under a microscope, you can expect them to appear rhomboid and roughly elliptical from the sides.
Psilocybe tampanensis is a shroom that bruises purple or blue when injured. Its odor and taste are slightly doughy.
Psilocybe Tampanensis Similar Species
A famed mycologist, Gaston Guzman, considers P. tampanensis as an intermediate form of P. mexicana and P. caerulescens. However, these similarities don’t carry risks since none of these similar-looking mushrooms are remotely toxic. In fact, these doppelgangers carry psychedelic effects.
Psilocybe Tampanensis Habitat and Distribution
For twenty years, this shroom was known to come from only one place: southeast of Florida. However, in 1996, Guzman reported clusters of P. tampanensis also growing in a deciduous forest in Pearl River County, Mississippi in an environment highly similar to Florida.
This shroom is saprobic, which means it thrives on decaying matter. However, its scarcity means scientists are unable to point out its exact growing environment and requirements other than it’s a grassland species that grows on decaying matter in deciduous forests.
Psilocybe Tampanensis Sclerotia
This particular mushroom strain forms sclerotia – a hard mass of tissue that grows underground and is capable of providing nutrition to the mycelium in dire environmental conditions. It allows the fungus to survive wildfires and other environmental disasters. Sclerotia is a more formal name for truffles.
Some shroomers claim the sclerotia produces a stronger psychedelic effect than the fruiting body that grows above ground. However, chemical analysis show they are equally psychoactive and both contain the hallucinogenic agents: psilocin and psilocybin.
Because of the legal status of magic shrooms, magic truffles are preferred for sale, transport, and cultivation in some countries. One example is the Netherlands where magic shrooms are prohibited but a legal loophole allows magic truffles.